When April rolls around, be sure to take your rain boots and raincoats out of the closet for the April showers. But when May rolls around, take out your vases to put in some nice May flowers!

“Sweet April showers do spring May flowers,” is a short poem written by Thomas Tusser traced back to 1157. This poem can also be found in the April section of a collection of his writings titled, “A Hundred Good Points of Husbandry.”

Tusser wasn’t the only one who wrote about the classic saying, “April showers bring May flowers.” Towards the end of the fourteenth century, Geoffrey Chaucer had his own take on the month of April.

Chaucer’s version goes:
“Whan that Aprill, with his shoures soote
The droghte of March hath perced to the roote
And bathed every veyne in swich licour,
Of which vertu engendred is the flour;”
This poem can be found in a famous collection of stories, “The Canterbury Tales.”

“April showers bring May flowers” originated in the United Kingdom. The month of April in the UK is known to be one of the soggiest months based on the position of the jet stream. Since the area of the climate is on the cooler side, the low temperature can push back the bloom of flowers until May.

Yes, it is a fun saying for when you are looking forward to the month of May, but it has a deeper meaning. It means that even after long periods of adversity, good times will follow.