De la Toussaint à Noué un arbre ne sait pas chu que non li fait.—From All Saints’ Day to Christmas a tree knows not what is done to it. The autumnal quarter is supposed to be the best for transplanting trees or shrubs, as at that time the vigorous growth that had been going on in spring and summer has ceased, and there is less danger of their suffering from the change.
Noué n’est pas Noué sàns pâcrolle (paquerette primevère).—Christmas is not Christmas unless there be primroses.
Noué est pûtôt Noué, sans pâcrolle, que sans agné (agneau).—A Christmas without primroses is more rare than a Christmas without lambs. Another version is:—
Nou ne vit jamais Noué, sans pâcrolle ou p’tit agné.—This saying, as well as the preceding, seems to refer particularly to the occurrence of that harbinger of spring, the primrose, at this season. With the exception occasionally of a few very cold days about the beginning of November, the weather in Guernsey up to Christmas, and frequently far into January, is remarkably mild; vegetation is scarcely checked, and many summer flowers continue to bloom freely up to this time. It is a well-known fact that the primrose, like many other plants and most bulbs, has its period of repose during the hot and dry weather of summer, the flowering ceasing about the end of May, and the leaves withering away. In the autumn there is a fresh growth of leaves, and the flower buds, which had been already formed towards the end of spring, but had been prevented by the drought from expanding, are ready to burst into bloom with the mild days that generally usher in Christmas, the earliest blossoms being invariably found on the north sides of the hedges, where the latest flowers of the preceding summer lingered, the plants with a south aspect having exhausted their bloom in the hot weather.
A flleur de Mars—ni pouque (poche) ni sac;
A flleur d’Avril—pouque et baril;
A flleur de Mai—barrique et touné (tonneau).
Blossom in March requires neither bag nor sack;
Blossom in April fills bag and barrel;
Blossom in May fills hogshead and tun.