Feeling Lucky? Great, You Should!

Purple Shamrock (Oxalis triangularis)

I began working for this homeowner who has a wonderful two-story with plenty of vistas for a pond rear of the property. Of all the projects and plants I have dealt with on this property, none has been so dramatic or awe inspiring enough for which to write about. It was presented to me in pretty fair shape.

It's a beautiful sloping property of a variety of plants he chose and beds he designed. We are usually on the same page or we write a new one together.

Overall awareness, appreciation and attention to detail are the protocol during every visit - not arduous, but meticulous and rewarding.

I was working on three of the front beds last early-December and one of the tasks was to remove a group of these beauties - Purple Shamrock (Oxalis triangularis). Actually, they are also referred to as False Shamrock as they are not actually shamrocks and although the foliage does resemble clover, they are not clovers either. They are in the Oxalidaceae family along with wood sorrels.

Enough of that - they are beautiful little plants with five petal flowers which contrast so well against the dark purple foliage. They do love to rest at night and not just the flowers, but the foliage will fold down like umbrellas in the darkness. But, don't worry. They'll get happy in the morning.

They are considered bulbs, but to me the bulb looks more like a corm - a moot point, perhaps. When a bulb has finished all it can do in producing one of these gorgeous lucky devils, it will borrow a little energy from what's above ground and produce another bulb/corm - new lucky little devil.

By its nature, they can be propagated by splitting and they are capable of reproducing on their own (monoecious) and will do so quite prolifically. So, you can install a trenched border to control them as they are not deep-rooted or easily control them by removing and transplanting or gifting. They can be used as borders (controlled) or groundcover, and are great in containers, indoor and out.

This customer has Purple Shamrock in another plant bed and he told me to feel free to take them with me. I planted four clusters under a very mature crepe myrtle in late December and they slightly bloomed not shortly after. They later went dormant and I covered them without worry when I was refreshing the pine straw around the myrtle. Last week when temperatures were higher, a cluster on the sunniest side emerged from the mulch.

They are dainty, but tough as nails. In fact, I have three buckets of more Purple Shamrock along a stone border in the back I haven't move or touched and they seem to be doing their own little happy thing. I'll plant them when I rework a bed back there.

It is true that deer and many other animals will eat most any plant if hungry enough, but Oxalis triangularis is high on the deer-resistant list.

Mature Size: Height 0.5 to 1.0'   Spread 1.0 to 2.0'
Sun: Partial to full; closer to a window if indoors in a north facing room
Soil: Well drained sand, loamy sand or loam with neutral to acidic pH
Water Needs: Average - allow to dry out between watering during growing season. Stop watering if the plant appears dormant.
Attracts: Butterflies