Out On A Limb / February-March 2009
How to Grow Shamrocks
It seems a proper time of year to be talking about how to grow Shamrocks. And the good news is that you’re going to have a ton of choices about this charming (but potentially invasive in Southern climates) plants. To begin with the wood-sorrel family contains about 900 species of these plants - from annuals to perennials - from rhizomes to bulbs. All share the three lobed leaves and “shamrock” look though so let’s simply focus on the more readily available gardening types and pretend the weedier forms don’t exist for the moment. Most of the plants purchased in the last few days are bulbous types. Lovely, large green leaves that fold up at night topped off with white or rose flowers. Understand that if you try to give them as much sunlight as you can in these winter months and then semishade during the high summer, they’ll be quite pleased.
Watering means soaking the plant but then allowing the soil to dry out until it is just dry to the touch. Then water again. It may take several days to dry out, it may take a week. As long as that soil is damp, don’t water. Overwatering will rot out the bulb and you’ll lose the plant. Feed with a half strenght houseplant food every week. Your plant will love being fed and produce even more flowers. Keep cool. This plant loves cool temperatures (in the high 50F is great) and blooms for much longer when kept cool.If you follow these simple guidelines, you’ll be able to grow shamrocks right up to the summertime. But then something quite interesting is likely going to happen. Your plant will start dropping a few leaves here and there and then will suddenly go all yellow. It’s NOT dead. It has gone dormant. Leave it alone, dry out the soil and don’t water it. Store in a cool dark place.
In the fall, bring the plant out into the sunlight, start feeding and watering and watch it spring back to life.
If my plant got too straggly in the depths of winter (it bloomed all winter) then I’d simply cut it right to the ground and allow it to resprout and rebloom. Growing shamrocks successfully means you do have to watch out for spider mites and aphids as these indoor pests will snack on the tender leaves. The only other thing (and it’s truly optional) is to hoist a few next week and invite the little people to visit. A healthy growing shamrock plant will go a long way to keeping them happy.
And that’s how to grow shamrocks.
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