This is the time of year when spring reaches its budding maturity. The landscapes are lush again, birdsong echo through field and forest, insects return, all impacted by an abundance of flowers.

Flowers of all shapes and colors have been blooming away rampantly for the past month. And so it is fitting the full moon of May 21st is the Flower Moon. 

April's Full Moon rising above a tree

Birds, butterflies, mammals and moths delight in the flowers, as do spiders. The sweet scent of flowers lulls around this time of year, pleasant odors wafting and riding the breeze.

Wild geranium after a spring rain at Fairy Stone State Park

This hepatica flower enticed a predator as well as it's prey

Historically, and still to this day, the warmth of Spring, more daylight, and the return of so many colors is an incredibly welcoming sight after winter's cold hold. 

A pink lady slipper at Grayson Highlands State Park

Flowers are such a pleasant symbol of Spring, fertility, and fresh life that we get two moons in a row inspired by the pollinating petaled parts of plants. The Pink Moon in April was named for the phlox flower, followed by the Flower Moon for so many more.

Flaming azalea at Hungry Mother State Park

A Seasonal Blue Moon

You’ve probably heard the phrase, “that only happens once every blue moon,” about a rare or unusual event. This Flower Moon happens to be a seasonal Blue Moon. It has nothing to do with its color and isn’t a blue moon based on the most familiar definition of the term, which is when we have two full moons in one month.

Instead a seasonal Blue Moon fulfills the less known criteria of an equally uncommon phenomena where we have four full moons in one season. Typically we have three full moons in the approximate 90 days of a season. It is a rare thing to have four full moons fall within a season, and the third is called a blue moon. So we'll have one more full moon in spring, just before the summer solstice.

This moon is also called the Milk Moon, having connections to the calving season, a tie to our farming roots. Milk, of course, being another symbol of fresh life and an organic connection to spring. The Planting Corn Moon is yet another cultural moniker for this moon, tying into humanity’s agrarian roots as well. 

The Moon and it's many names remind us of our connection to the land, our planet, and how closely in tuned our ancestors were to the changes of each season and month.