Moon Phases July 2015 in Itami, Japan

This month's full moon: the Buck Moon

Named for the time of year when male deer grow new antlers, still covered in velvet.

The Thunder Moon, for frequent summer storms, and the Hay Moon are other names. Some almanacs list the Salmon Moon for the return of fish to rivers.

Lore

July's moon marks the season when bucks' antlers are in full velvet growth. The Thunder Moon name recalls summer storms, and the Hay Moon the first cutting of hay. Old lore held that hay cut under a waning July moon would keep better.

Trivia

• The Buck Moon is usually the first full moon after the summer solstice, rising low and late.
• In 2023 the Buck Moon was the first of four consecutive supermoons.
• Male deer regrow their antlers every year, among the fastest-growing tissues known.

All Buck 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 July 2015

• Jul 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.
• Jul 2 to Jul 8 · Root crops: Plant root crops and anything that overwinters: carrots, beets, potatoes, onions, garlic, bulbs, perennials, trees and shrubs. Prune to slow growth.
• Jul 9 to Jul 15 · Rest and tend: Rest days for the soil: weed, cultivate, turn compost, harvest crops for storage, prune to discourage regrowth, prepare beds. Avoid sowing.
• Jul 16 to Jul 23 · 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.
• Jul 24 to Jul 30 · Fruiting crops: Sow above-ground crops whose seeds form inside the fruit: beans, peas, tomatoes, peppers, squash, cucumbers, melons. Graft, repot and sow lawns.
• Jul 31 · Root crops: Plant root crops and anything that overwinters: carrots, beets, potatoes, onions, garlic, bulbs, perennials, trees and shrubs. Prune to slow growth.

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

How to read this moon calendar

Each day shows the Moon as it looks from Itami 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

Why does the Moon have phases? › · Next new moon · Next full moon