Moon Phases March 2018 in Solingen, Germany

This month's full moon: the Worm Moon

The last full moon of winter, named for the earthworms and beetle larvae that appear as the ground thaws.

Another reading credits beetle larvae emerging from tree bark. The Crow Moon, Sap Moon and Lenten Moon are alternatives. When it falls before the March equinox it is the last full moon of winter; after it, the first of spring, which sets the date of Easter in the Christian calendar.

Lore

The March moon marked the thaw: the return of earthworms, robins and rising sap. In Europe it was the Lenten Moon when it fell before the equinox, or the Paschal Moon that fixes Easter when it fell after. Old lore watched it for signs of a late frost.

Trivia

• Easter is the first Sunday after the first full moon on or after March 21, so the Worm Moon or Pink Moon decides the date.
• Some scholars trace the Worm Moon to beetle larvae emerging from bark rather than to earthworms.
• The equinox full moon rises almost exactly due east.

All Worm Moon dates ›

This month's full moon: the Blue Moon

A second full moon in one calendar month. It happens about every two and a half years and has nothing to do with color.

The monthly definition became popular after a 1946 Sky and Telescope article misread the Maine Farmers' Almanac, which used an older seasonal rule: the third full moon in a season that has four. Both definitions are in use today. The phrase "once in a blue moon" predates both and simply means rarely.

Lore

The phrase once in a blue moon is older than any astronomical definition and originally meant something absurd or never. The modern rule, a second full moon in one calendar month, spread from a 1946 magazine article and a 1980s radio programme. Genuinely blue-looking moons have been seen after huge volcanic eruptions and forest fires, when smoke particles scatter red light.

Trivia

• Monthly Blue Moons happen about every 2.7 years.
• The older seasonal rule calls the third full moon of a season with four the Blue Moon.
• After Krakatoa erupted in 1883 the Moon appeared blue or green for nearly two years.

All Blue Moon dates ›

Gardening by the Moon in March 2018

• Mar 1 · Fruiting crops: Sow above-ground crops whose seeds form inside the fruit: beans, peas, tomatoes, peppers, squash, cucumbers, melons. Graft, repot and sow lawns.
• Mar 2 to Mar 8 · Root crops: Plant root crops and anything that overwinters: carrots, beets, potatoes, onions, garlic, bulbs, perennials, trees and shrubs. Prune to slow growth.
• Mar 9 to Mar 17 · Rest and tend: Rest days for the soil: weed, cultivate, turn compost, harvest crops for storage, prune to discourage regrowth, prepare beds. Avoid sowing.
• Mar 18 to Mar 24 · Leafy crops: Sow leafy crops and above-ground annuals whose seeds form outside the fruit: lettuce, spinach, cabbage, broccoli, celery, herbs. Transplant seedlings. Mow to encourage growth.
• Mar 25 to Mar 31 · Fruiting crops: Sow above-ground crops whose seeds form inside the fruit: beans, peas, tomatoes, peppers, squash, cucumbers, melons. Graft, repot and sow lawns.

Full planting calendar for March › · How gardening by the moon works

How to read this moon calendar

Each day shows the Moon as it looks from Solingen at midday local time, with the illuminated percentage, moonrise and moonset. Days with a principal phase show the exact local time the phase occurs. Because the Moon moves about 50 minutes later each day, roughly once a month there is a date with no moonrise or no moonset at all.

The eight phases of the Moon