Beltane marks the start of summer in the ancient Celtic calendar, a festival celebrated halfway between the Spring Equinox and Summer Solstice. This lively event includes traditions like gathering wildflowers, making floral garlands, crowning a May Queen, and dancing around a Maypole or May Tree. Large bonfires are central to the celebration, symbolising purification and the arrival of summer while hoping for a good harvest. These fires also involve rituals to protect the community from spirits and welcome the sun. Flowers symbolize new life and decorate shrines to goddesses across Mediterranean and European regions. British folklore often features fairies, believed to encourage plant growth and inhabit herbs and flowers. Key blooms of Beltane include lily of the valley, hawthorn blossom, and cowslips. Changes in climate can affect when these plants bloom, with local hawthorn already starting to blossom. As noted in the Diary of an Edwardian Lady, seasonal plant references can vary by a month. The arrival of Beltane and May Day encourages us to celebrate the vibrant colours and traditions of the season, highlighted by an array of flowers like sage, thyme, forget-me-nots, cow parsley, bluebells, daisies, curry plant, alkanet, grass heads, Mexican orange blossom, mountain cornflower, and buttercups and lily of the valley.