The flowering of wild grapes seems to me always a time of demarcation – on the one side, the halcyon days and nights of migrant and courting birds with their wealth of song, the choirs of the frogs, the stimulating aromas and odors of the opening earth – and on the other side, the months of humidity, mosquitoes, deer flies and gnats, making the marshes less pleasant for walking.

-August Derleth, Countryman’s Journal, May 21

The Frog and Toad Mating Moon wanes throughout the second week of May, entering its final quarter at 4:47 p.m. May 12. Rising after midnight and setting before noon, this moon is overhead near dawn, making that time the most promising for fishing (but hard for dieters).

As a cool front approaches between May 10-12, morning angling should be even better and the weak, waning moon should reduce stress through the middle of the month, easing the burdens of health care workers, parents, teachers and police.

Planting of root crops and the setting out of bedding plants, shrubs and trees are favored when the crescent moon passes through Capricorn on May 8-11 and through Pisces on May 13-15.

As Leo moves off to the west by 10 o’clock at night, the likelihood of frost diminishes sharply, and tender bedding plants, tomatoes and peppers can be set out – as long as you can protect them on cooler nights. When Leo has moved well into the southwest and Arcturus is almost in the center of the sky, and the Milky Way fills the southeast, then frost should stay away until October.

An average day in May’s second quarter brings rain 25-40 percent of the time. May 8, 11 and 13 are likely to the driest of the week, and May 12 and 14, the wettest. Typical highs almost always reach above 60 degrees after May 10, and they rise to 70 or above at least 60 percent of the afternoons.

May 11 is the day with the warmest weather history of the month: A full 50 percent of years bring temperatures in the 80s, something which doesn’t happen again until the first of June. Also after May 10, the chances of a killing frost drop below 5 percent.

Zeitgebers for next week ordinarily include the flowering of wild grapes, the peak of warbler migration, the appearance of swallowtail butterflies, red admiral butterflies, small, orange fold-winged butterflies, white-spotted skipper butterflies, blue-tailed dragonflies and scorpion flies in local gardens; goslings and ducklings along the rivers; and webworms in the trees along the roadsides. Blackberries and wild parsnips join sweet rockets in bloom.

May 7: When multiflora roses come into flower, look for the bronze birch borer to emerge and oystershell scale eggs to hatch. And when American holly blooms (about the same time as the multiflora roses), then potato leafhoppers will be hopping in the potatoes.

May 8: Armyworms and corn borers are at work when thistles bud and strawberries redden in the garden. Bean leaf beetles are eating beans when the first zucchini ripens and elderberries start.

Flea time is in full swing for pets, a sign that insect activity is nearing the economic threshold on the farm. The offspring of monarch butterflies, which left Texas in February, cross the Ohio River. Flies become pesky in the mild afternoons.

May 9: Iris, mock orange and peonies bloom as May deepens. Locust blossoms sweeten the winds. Strawberries ripens in the garden and big, brown “May bugs” cling to your screen door at night.

May 10: Migrant workers move north to help with setting plants. In the wood lots, eastern tent caterpillars are defoliating the cherry trees. Orchard grass is heading in the North and a little alfalfa is budding.

May 11: When you see poppies in bloom, look for migrating white-throated sparrows, ruby-crowned kinglets, yellow-rumped warblers, magnolia warblers, tanagers, grosbeaks and orioles. When mock orange reaches full flower, look for black vine weevils and greater peach tree borers; then come the rhododendron borers and the dogwood borers.

May 12: The moon’s entrance into its fourth quarter today should bring relatively stable lunar conditions for working with animals and family members.

May 13: White clover, common plantain, meadow goatsbeard, comfrey, wild multiflora roses, wild daisies, red clover and back medic bloom are in bloom. Flea beetles come feeding in the vegetable garden when white clover blooms.

Chances for frost increase as the May 15 cold front passes through. This front and the next two high-pressure systems are often followed by the “Strawberry Rains,” the wettest time of May.

Almanac classics

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