JanMary at
Welcome to My World (in Ireland)
Even if you have no obvious connection with Ireland,
On March 17th EVERYONE is IRISH!!Her carnival is running until March 21, 2009 so post something and link up:)
{there are also lovely give aways;}. JanMary wrote "Any posts related to anything irish, or how you celebrate or don't celebrate St Patrick's Day will be welcome."
As white and freckled as I am, you would think I'm VERY Irish, but genealogy shows lots of German, English, and a little Scots Irish.
Ready for a little Bloomin' Tuesday???? Join MsGreen "thumb" Jean for
Bloomin' Tuesday! or see others!
What could be better than a little shamrock growing in your yard on St. Paddy's day?
(yellow blooming, low growing, wood sorrel)
Having a pot of mixed shamrocks near by, with cool purple markings?
(white blooming trifolium repens, and white blooming green leaf oxalis)
Nope. My favorite is my reliable purple oxalis:
Purple Oxalis -- Oxalis regnellii 'Atropurpurea' (I am guessing the name here)
Maybe not as lucky as the Trifolium repens
{did you see the four leaf clovers in the picture? (photos are clickable) Go look, I'll wait.} (info from Internet) "Trifolium repens also known as the 4-leaf clover. Beautiful, compact plants are sure to delight with their abundance of “good luck”. About one third of the leafs have four leaflets. Small white blooms appear in summer and are lightly scented. Gets to a height of 12 to 18 inches when mature." This would be a great one for kids looking for the lucky four leaves.
Because we are overcast today my shamrocks are not opening their blooms. My wood sorrel has been a very reliable weed, growing daintily in the cracks, but as soon as it blooms, my little girls pick the happy yellow blooms.
I added the Tri-shammy (my name for the Trifolium repens), which hasn't bloomed for me yet, last year and it spreads by runners, quite aggressively.
The oxalis is a spreader too, but it is a corm? tuber? bulby thing:).
I love purple, I love shamrocks (actually I call them ALL clover), together they really rock!! Have a great St. Paddy's Day:)
All I do for St. Patrick's Day is make sure we are wearing some green so we don't get the fire pinched out of us. I don't like food that's weird colors, so the pinching thing is about it. Our kids are out of school, only because its spring break.
JanMary (of North Ireland) was surprised to find the odd things we Americans do to celebrate. Check out her blog, and be sure to visit Jean at Bloomin' Tuesday also:)Shamrock (Irish symbol)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The shamrock is a symbol of Ireland. It is a three-leafed old white clover. It is sometimes of the variety Trifolium repens (a white clover, known in Irish as seamair bhán) but today usually Trifolium dubium (a lesser clover, Irish: seamair bhuí).
The diminutive version of the Irish word for "clover" ("seamair") is "seamróg", which was anglicised as "shamrock", representing a close approximation of the original Irish pronunciation. However, other three-leafed plants — such as black medic (Medicago lupulina), red clover (Trifolium pratense), and wood-sorrels (genus Oxalis) — are sometimes designated as shamrocks. The shamrock was traditionally used for its medical properties and was a popular motif in Victorian times. It is also a common way to represent Saint Patrick's Day.
Interesting info taken from
Shade Gardening: Purple OxalisFebruary 11, 2004
Purple Oxalis -- Oxalis regnellii 'Atropurpurea'
Going by whatever name you know it as, this is truly a wonderful plant. The Oxalis Genius has over 800 recognized species throughout the world. So considering the length of this article and TIME I will only talk about one, the Purple Leaf Oxalis.
This particular species is native in Argentina, Bolivia, and Paraguay. It was first cultivated in the United States in 1930.
I have admired this plant for a long time. The beautiful purple color in the leaves is hard to beat. The long stems for the ground are topped with a cluster of three deltoid-shaped leaflets, which are one and a half inches long. The leaflets fold at the mid-vein and resemble purple butterflies.
My Mother had given a friend of hers a couple of these plants two years ago. During the second year the friend forgot that they were in a particular bed and proceeded to till up the flowerbed. The next year the only thing in that flowerbed was Purple Oxalis all over the place. This friend gave me countless quantities of this wonderful plant and I have traded and sold it all over Texas. I still have a lot left from my adventures and I could receive even more this year!
The root or rhizome is an interesting thing in itself. It looks like a fat zipper that is zipped up. It does not matter if you plant the rhizome straight up or lay it down, it will flourish either way.
The book on this plant is part-shade (at least protection from the hot afternoon sun), rich moist sandy soil, zone 7-11, height 6"-10" spreading to 12" spacing 9"-12". The winter's cold will knock it down to the ground, but don't worry, it will be back in the spring. This species does not have freestanding flowers, which tends to create a droopy look in certain instances. However, the plant's beautiful white blooms create a colorful look for any garden. It flowers best in the spring and then occasionally through the summer.
It's TOUGH, PERSISTENT, and RESILIENT. This is another true Texas tough perennial for bordering or edging flowerbeds.
