Are the flowers in your garden patch coming up now?
As with some of the other full moon names, the one in May represents what is happening in the season. Thus Native Americans, early settlers and European planters called it, among other names, the Flower Moon.
Celtic and Old English background names include Mothers’ Moon, Bright Moon, Hare Moon, and Grass Moon, according to The Old Farmer’s Almanac. No surprise then that in 2025 the May Full Moon happens on Mother’s Day.
It was already mostly full and bright last night, May 8, in Chicago, but it actually gets fuller and reaches full illumination there on Monday, May 12 in the middle of the day at 11:56 a.m.
Flower Moon: Full Moon in May 2025 | The Old Farmer’s Almanac
Different American tribes such as the Dakotas and Algonquins were known to call it by that name. The Cree tribe used Budding Moon.
If looking up tonight, also watch for Spica, a bright star, hovering around the moon, according to Space.
The May Full Moon is a micro moon. Micro moon is applied when the Full Moon’s orbit is farthest from Earth. In this case that would be 405,278 kilometers (251,828 miles) away, according to Time and Date.
It won’t look any smaller and may even appear bigger due to the optical Moon illusion.
