2 The Japanese Floral Calendar. 



Fourth month (about May) Wistaria. 



Fifth month ( " June) Iris. 



Sixth month ( July) Tree peony. 



Seventh month ( " August) Lespedeza. 



Eighth month ( " September) Eularia. 



Ninth month ( October) Chrysanthemum. 



Tenth month ( " November) Maple. 



Eleventh month ( " December) Willow. 



Twelfth month ( January) Paullownia. 



But when Japan adopted the Gregorian calendar, many of the 

 floral festivals were transferred to the new style without regard to 

 the awful anachronism that followed. In the case of the pine, 

 which is chosen for the first month on account of the prominent 

 part that it plays in the New Year's decorations, it makes no special 

 difference whether the New Year begins January I or February 18. 

 But in many other cases the calendar suffers serious dislocation, 

 because some of the "flowers" cannot conveniently be moved back 

 a month or more. The autumn full moon, too, in whose festival 

 certain blossoms figured, cannot be arbitrarily hurried up. Hence, 

 it is rather difficult for the flowers of Old Japan to run on the new 

 Occidental schedule. 



But taking all these difficulties into consideration, and harmo- 

 nizing them so far as possible, we have been able to construct the 

 following modern Japanese floral calendar: 



This calendar we shall follow in this book. 1 



1 The following is an alternative : 



January } ( Pine and July Morning-glory. 



February j \ Bamboo. August Lotus. 



March Plum. September "Seven Grasses.'^ 



April Cherry. October ) ( Chrysanthemum. 



May Wistaria. November j } Maple. 



June Iris. December Camellia. 



