Adonia was a movable festival that took place in ancient Athens (and possibly Rome) in what is now July or August, traditionally nine days after the 7th new moon of the year, or the 9th of the month of Hekatombion and lasting till the full moon. The fixed date of July 19th is used today by some traditions
Effigies of Adonis were made and laid out as if prepared for burial and funerary rites were performed. Women of the household would plant fast growing seeds (fennel, barley, lettuces and wheat) in baskets on the roof and tend them for 8 days after which they would allow them to die and then mourn them. These were called "Gardens of Adonis" and were thrown into the ocean at the end of the festival. Some of them may have been buried or burned or thrown into the sea with the effigy. It is possible that "proper" women bewailed their gardens on the rooftops while the "loose" women took part in the public mourning with the effigy in the streets.
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