Y’all, I’ve got all the cozies today {even if it is a muggy 80+ outside … rude}. After waiting, and waiting, and waiting, the day of Autumnal Equinox has finally arrived! Huzzah! The older I get, the more this Fitzgerald quote resonates: there’s something incredibly restorative about the crisp temps and clear air, the golden light and the riot of color in the trees.
In honor of the occasion, I thought I’d share something I first posted on Instagram, concerning flowers, folklore, and the first frost.
Mr. and I were catching up on videos we’ve missed on one of our favorite YouTube channels {definitely check them out!}, and Meagan and Andy shared some local folklore they’ve been “testing” the last few years:
Once the goldenrod is in full bloom,
it’s 6 weeks until frost.
We found this fascinating, and since I’d conveniently been taking goldenrod pictures anyway, decided to officially document and see if it will come true for us this year.
As you can see, the goldenrod is starting to bust open {after teasing for a week or so}, so we’re starting our 6-week count and if all holds true … the week of Halloween should get frosty! As I’m posting this, a few days after the pictures were taken, that goldenrod is truly in glorious full bloom.
Another fun piece of forecast prediction folklore is the cutting of persimmon seeds. Since we have access to several trees, I took it upon myself to see what the seeds have to say. It was a messy, sticky {somehow slippery?} process, and I had to take a second trip to the trees, but I prevailed!
As you can see, there’s an overwhelming number of spoons, with a few knives up at the top. {And you can see the aftermath of my opening; friends, it was a project, ha}. The Farmer’s Almanac has a great explanation of this process, with examples of all the possible shapes you can see.
Spoiler Alert: The persimmons are forecasting a snowy and cold winter here in North Carolina!
I’m sure you’ve probably heard about how the dark stripes of a woolly worm can also predict/indicate the coming winter, but check out this guy I saw in the garden!
Technically, he is apparently a Yellow Bear caterpillar, and not officially a winter prognosticator; but I can’t help thinking he might be trying to tell us something. Especially since he turned his head, as if he was looking right at me, after this picture was taken. Maybe he’s telling us to enjoy the glorious fall while it lasts?
What weather predicting folklore have you heard about and/or follow? Have you tested the goldenrod theory? What do the persimmon seeds in your area show? And has anyone seen an authentic woolly bear caterpillar yet to know what the little fuzzies are preparing for? Let’s all share our predictions and see what happens in the months to come!
Have you ever counted August Fogs? Folklore says they determine the number of Snowy/Icy winter events. ❄️
I think I may need to try to make a Snowy themed quilt. ♥️❄️
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I have tried once or twice, but have a hard time keeping track all month 😂
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I haven’t heard of the goldenrod or persimmon predictors but I am always curious to see what the wooly worms have to say. I haven’t seen any yet this year. One popular folklore predictor on the other end of the seasons spectrum is that it has to snow three times on the forsythia before snow will be done for the year. Never heard that in all my years in NY so it might be an Ohio thing but it usually comes true 🙂
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Oh that’s a cool one! I haven’t heard about forsythia and snow, but I like that 🙂
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I haven’t heard any of these bits of folklore before but it was interesting to learn them all. It’ll also be fun to see if they prove right or not. Those spoons in the seeds are so strange. I’ve never heard of them before either. But I don’t think I’ve ever seen a persimmon growing either, only tried shop brought ones. The only weather folklore I can think of off the top of my head is that if it rains on one particular day you’ll get 40 days & nights of rain but I’m sure I’ve heard more in the past too.
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I love how regional the weather folklore is (as with any good folklore), and oh yes: it will be very fun to see if any/all are correct! I’ll definitely be posting updates 👌
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I love learning folklore tbh and really want to look into some collections of it sometime. I’ll definitely be keeping an eye out for the updates.
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[…] you saw the Fall & Folklore post, you know that we decided to test goldenrod’s prediction abilities, re: the first frost. […]
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[…] morning? A gorgeous fluffy, sticky winter wonderland! I guess the persimmon seeds were on to something {that knife also came true: the wind has been brutally cold the last few […]
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[…] far, I’d have to say the folklore is holding true: after our surprise snow in December, we’ve been well below normal […]
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[…] I’ve learned anything this winter, it’s that persimmon seeds don’t lie, y’all. We have been much colder than normal, and we’ve just had our third wintry […]
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[…] the conclusion of Winter, I thought I’d give a final check-in on the folklore predictions I posted about […]
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[…] year, we learned about the folkloric tradition of predicting the first frost by when the goldenrod blooms. The estimate was a bit off last year {it frosted earlier!}, but we […]
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[…] for the job, so the insides took a bit of a beating, but you can still see an abundance of spoons. If the folklore is correct, that means we’re in for a snowy winter! It also looks like there’s a knife in there […]
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