Purple rein of the Michaelmas daisy is sign of autumn
Autumn, season of mists, mellow fruitfulness and Michaelmas daisies. As the nights begin to darken, our late pollinators help stave off the gloom – none more so than the cheery purple flower devoted to St Michael.
There is something a little bit miraculous about the Michaelmas, which thrive in the most challenging of locations – roadside verges, railway sidings, cracked concrete and urban scrub. They denote summer’s end and the world slowly darkening once more.
The daisy is named after the Christian festival of Michaelmas on Sept 29. As one of the four quarter days in our traditional calendar, Michaelmas marked the end of the harvest season and the beginning of preparations for the long winter ahead. Local courts were often held on the day, employment contracts arranged and rents due.
Michaelmas Day also marks something of a waymark in the natural world. A widespread superstition prevalent across the British Isles forbade picking or eating blackberries after Michaelmas in the belief that any fruit that remained was cursed by the devil himself who had swished his tail across the bushes. The Michaelmas daisy was given its name for the way it stood out exotic and bright against this gloomy backdrop as a symbol of hope for the months ahead.
Anyway, perhaps I’m getting ahead of myself because in the short term at least, the weather looks pretty decent in the days ahead. There is the odd downpour about – especially so on Sunday – but in between some prolonged spells of sunshine.
Over next week things are getting wetter in the north-west of the country but further south and east more dry, sunny weather is forecast. And so, as we approach the tipping point of the autumn equinox on Wednesday, we have both sunshine and daisies in our midst – all the joys of the season.