Pink Moon

Egg Moon · Grass Moon · Paschal Moon

The name comes from creeping phlox, one of North America’s earliest wildflowers, which carpets the ground pink in April. The moon itself does not blush, and the almanacs were always careful to say so. In Europe this is often the paschal moon, the one that decides the date of Easter.

It was said to be the most treacherous moment of spring: everything grows, and everything can still freeze. French gardeners speak of the “lune rousse,” the russet moon, the lunation after Easter, under which young shoots are scorched brown on clear nights. It is not the moon that burns. Under an open sky the ground loses its heat all at once, and the white frost does the rest.

“Under the russet moon, nothing grows,” say the French gardeners. The old saying blames the moon. The weather blames the clear sky instead. Both advise waiting before you sow.