We have just added this flower ecard to our collection and you will find it in the Natural World theme – and not surprisingly it is in the Flowers category.
Also A Free Ecard For The Month Of August
It seems that summer has finally reached this part of England, and to celebrate its late arrival we have also added this Iris flower ecard to our Free Ecards section, where it will appear for a limited time – in fact, until the end of August.
To go to the ‘Free Ecards’ page, click on the link above, or click on these thumbnails.
The Origin Of The Word ‘Iris’
When researching the word ‘Iris’, I found that its name comes from the Greek word ‘iris’ which means ‘rainbow’. It is a lovely origin for the name of the flower, don’t you think?
When Is Summer?
Apropos summer, I was surprised to learn that even in the northern hemisphere it is not the same period in different countries.
For example, in the United Sates it is calculated from astronomical data and officially begins on June 20 or 21 (depending on when the solstice falls in a given year) and ends on September 22 or 23 (depending on when the Equinox falls in a given year).
[Unofficially, summer in the United States begins on Memorial Day weekend at the end of May and ends on Labor Day weekend towards the beginning of September.]
Elsewhere, summer is fixed from meteorological data rather than astronomical data.
The meteorological data records summer as the warmest days that also coincide with the longest days.
So in the United Kingdom it begins in mid-May and ends in mid-August.
In some European countries, however, it is fixed as running from the beginning of June through to the end of August.
Changing Weather Patterns
With changing weather patterns in the world, who knows when this season will be in future years according to meteorological calculations?