They that go to their corn in May may come
weeping away," but "They that go in June may come back with a merry
tune." Then there is the following familiar pretty couplet, of which
there are several versions:--

"The bee doth love the sweetest flower,
So doth the blossom the April shower."

In connection with beans, there is a well-known adage
which says:--

"Be it weal or be it woe,
Beans should blow before May go."

Of the numerous other items of plant weather-lore, it is said that
"March wind wakes the ether (_i. e_., adder) and blooms the whin;" and
many of our peasantry maintain that:--

"A peck of March dust and a shower in May,
Makes the corn green and the fields gay."

It should also be noted that many plants are considered good barometers.
Chickweed, for instance, expands its leaves fully when fine weather is
to follow; but "if it should shut up, then the traveller is to put on
his greatcoat."[5] The same, too, is said to be the case with the
pimpernel, convolvulus, and clover; while if the marigold does not open
its petals by seven o'clock in the morning, either rain or thunder may
be expected in the course of the day. According to Wilsford, "tezils, or
fuller's thistle, being gathered and hanged up in the house, where the
air may come freely to it, upon the alteration of cold and windy weather
will grow smoother, and against rain will close up its prickles." Once
more, according to the "Shepherd's Calendar," "Chaff, leaves,
thistle-down, or such light things whisking about and turning round
foreshows tempestuous winds;" And Coles, in his introduction to the
"Knowledge of Plants," informs us that, "If the down flieth off
colt's-foot, dandelion, and thistles when there is no wind, it is a sign
of rain."

Some plants, again, have gained a notoriety from opening or shutting
their flowers at the sun's bidding; in allusion to which Perdita remarks
in the "Winter's Tale" (iv. 3):--

"The marigold, that goes to bed with the sun, and with him
rises weeping."

It was also erroneously said, like the sun-flower, to
turn its blossoms to the sun, the latter being thus
described by Thomson:--

"The lofty follower of the sun,
Sad when he sets, shuts up her yellow leaves,
Drooping all night, and, when he warm returns,
Points her enamour'd bosom to his ray."

Another plant of this kind is the endive, which is said to open its
petals at eight o'clock in the morning, and to close them at fo