{"id":25487,"date":"2026-05-04T09:40:30","date_gmt":"2026-05-04T08:40:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hortodocampogrande.pt\/?p=25487"},"modified":"2026-05-04T09:40:31","modified_gmt":"2026-05-04T08:40:31","slug":"espiga-ear-ofwheat-day-learn-about-the-history-and-symbolism-of-this-date","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hortodocampogrande.pt\/en\/flowers\/espiga-ear-ofwheat-day-learn-about-the-history-and-symbolism-of-this-date\/","title":{"rendered":"Wheat Ear Day \u2013 Discover the history and symbolism of this date"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong><strong>In 2026, Wheat Ear Day is on May 14. Also known as Ascension Thursday, this day celebrates the consecration of Spring and, according to Catholic tradition, Jesus Christ&#8217;s ascent to heaven 40 days after the Resurrection (Easter). More than a religious commemoration, it is an ancestral ritual deeply connected to the land and natural cycles.<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n<p>According to tradition, Wheat Ear Day was considered &#8220;the holiest day of the year,&#8221; when no work should be done. It was a day of solemn rest and an opportunity to take advantage of the start of good weather for a morning walk through the fields, a picnic with family or friends and, in that context, to compose the traditional wheat ear bouquet. This bouquet includes wheat ears and wildflowers, such as poppies or daisies, as well as sprigs of olive, rosemary and vine.<\/p>\n\n<p>Due to its strong connection to Nature, this custom is thought to date back to ancient pagan traditions. It began long ago with the Celts and Romans, who thanked the gods for the first harvests of the year, being associated with the festivals of the goddess Flora that took place around this time. With the arrival of Christianity, and taking into account the dates of Easter celebrations, in Portugal this day became associated with the Feast of the Ascension, celebrated 40 days after Easter. It was once a national holiday and currently remains a holiday in some municipalities of the country.<br\/><\/p>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-9d6595d7 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><img alt=\"\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/hortodocampogrande.pt\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/02_HCG_img-2x.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-13628\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Wheat Ear Bouquet<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/hortodocampogrande.pt\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/03_HCG_img-2x.jpg\" alt=\"Wheat Ear Bouquet\" class=\"wp-image-13629\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Place it behind the front door<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n<p class=\"has-text-color\" style=\"color:#85ce19\"><strong>\u201cWhoever has Ascension wheat will have bread all year\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n<p>This is an old saying linked to the Wheat Ear Bouquet, in which each plant is associated with a meaning:<\/p>\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The <strong>wheat ears<\/strong> represent bread, as the foundation of the family\u2019s livelihood, and fertility.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The <strong>poppy<\/strong> means love, life.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The <strong>daisy<\/strong> symbolizes wealth and prosperity.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The presence of the <strong>olive tree<\/strong> means Peace and Divine Light.  <\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The <strong>rosemary<\/strong> represents health, strength, and resilience.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The <strong>vine<\/strong> symbolizes wine and joy.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n<p>According to old customs, the bouquet should be placed behind the home\u2019s front door and should only be replaced the following year with a new one, as a symbol of luck and prosperity for the household.<br\/><br\/><\/p>\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/hortodocampogrande.pt\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/04_HCG_img-1x-1024x598.jpg\" alt=\"Wheat Ear Day\" class=\"wp-image-13630\"\/><\/figure>\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\"><br\/><strong>Fun Fact<\/strong><\/p>\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\">On stormy days, you should burn some of the wheat ears from the bouquet<br\/>to ward off lightning and thunder.<\/p>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\n<div style=\"height:20px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-color\" style=\"color:#85ce19\"><strong><strong>At Horto do Campo Grande, we like to keep traditions alive, and we\u2019ve prepared Wheat Ear Bouquets so you can also follow the custom and place the bouquet behind your door for a prosperous and happy year!<\/strong><\/strong><br\/><br\/><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>May 13 marks Wheat Ear Day, also known as Ascension Thursday. On this day, the consecration of Spring is celebrated and, according to Catholic tradition, Jesus Christ\u2019s ascent to heaven 40 days after the Resurrection (Easter).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":6038,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[776],"tags":[1269,1066,1268,845,937,1270,925,837,1271,1272,1265,1199,1236,1273,1266,1267],"class_list":["post-25487","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-flowers","tag-daisies","tag-flowers","tag-history","tag-horto-do-campo-grande-en","tag-inspired-by-nature","tag-olive-tree","tag-plant-styling","tag-plants","tag-poppies","tag-prosperity","tag-rosemary","tag-traditions","tag-vine","tag-wheat-ear-bouquets","tag-wheat-ear-day","tag-wheat-ears"],"acf":[],"featured_image_src":"https:\/\/hortodocampogrande.pt\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/01_HCG_blog_intro_1200x752px-8.jpg","author_info":{"display_name":"Hugo Silva","author_link":"https:\/\/hortodocampogrande.pt\/en\/author\/hugos\/"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hortodocampogrande.pt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25487","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hortodocampogrande.pt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hortodocampogrande.pt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hortodocampogrande.pt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hortodocampogrande.pt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25487"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/hortodocampogrande.pt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25487\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":90461,"href":"https:\/\/hortodocampogrande.pt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25487\/revisions\/90461"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hortodocampogrande.pt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6038"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hortodocampogrande.pt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25487"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hortodocampogrande.pt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25487"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hortodocampogrande.pt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25487"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}