By the Light of the Moon?

I recently read, in A Greener Life: A Modern Country Compendium by Clarissa Dickson Wright (the surviving half of the food world's "two fat ladies"), that "you must plant, and indeed transplant, your seeds and seedlings as the moon begins to wax, which is three days after you see a new, or crescent, moon." I didn't believe it, but I had an area where I had planted seeds earlier and nothing came up. So, I replanted on the next day, which just happened to be exactly three days after the new moon. Of course, those seeds all came up. All other conditions being almost equal, except for a few weeks of warming for the soil.

The seedlings are what I planted with the moon, the full grown zinnias I bought and planted after the first, failed attempt.

I'm still not sure why it works, but Clarissa Dickson Wright is not alone in her devotion to lunar planting. Marion Owen, of PlanTea, gives some possible explanations, and this piece from E.A. Crawford (via Kay Keys) gives even more direction for gardening in concert with the moon's phases. Even National Geographic has reported on it. Calendars and software are available at GardeningByTheMoon.com. Go figure.