Shamrocks from seed.

Hi Guys,

A lady I work with brought home a pack of "Shamrocks" from Ireland. When she found out what a garden nut I am, she asked me to start them for her as the instructions were involved. Well, I sowed them last week and I have tons of little tiny loops sticking out of the dirt. The instructions just say you can leave them full like that or snip some out. I am just going to give them back to my friend when the leaves come up. She self admits she has a black thumb. LOL Are there any tips or special things I should tell her? These are very special to her. The only other instructions on the pkg basically say to let them go about a week or so then set the pot in a bowl of water and they can be misted if the conditions are dry.

Bad,
Not to over- water is the best tip I would give her. Mine kinda poop out after a few years so I re-pot them and it seems to revive them. I think they get too crowded. Also, I keep mine near a window but not in full hot sun.

Thank you very much! She was afraid to start the seeds herself so they have been sitting since she went to Ireland last year. It is always scary to give someone plants when they profess to be a black thumb. LOL

Badseed, I've never started shamrocks from seed, but rather, by thinning out the corms. When thinning, once repotted, the greenery will die back and they'll come up again later. I've left corms in the pots without water for several months, then added water and up they came! It will be interesting to see how your 'seeds' do. What did the seeds look like?

Weezi,

I don't think American Shamrock plants (usually some sort of Oxalis) and Irish Shamrocks are the same thing.

Will have to do some Googling to find out.

Erik

http://newswww.bbc.net.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/4355195.stm

From this article, it looks like Irish Shamrocks are usually some sort of Clover, Trifolium dubium.

Here's another interesting article:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/3519116.stm

Apparently a botanist carried out a shamrock survey in 1988, asking Irish people to collect what they considered Shamrocks. He got back:

trifolium dubium (lesser trefoil) 46%
trifolium repens (white clover) 35%
medicap lupulina (black medick) 7%
oxalis acetosella (wood sorrel) 5%
trifolium pratense (red clover) 4%

Erik

added link to other article

This message was edited Mar 30, 2005 1:43 PM

My shamrocks were brought over from Ireland manyyears ago by the owners of the resort where I work. We had a pot of it growing in our shop and my supr. gave me several corms of it. I've had it about 7 yrs now.
It is a pale green leaf w/purple reverse and white blooms. I haven't a clue as to what cultivar it really is though.

I thought I would bump this back up for someone to see. The shamrocks are still doing very well. I will post a pic of them soon, compared to the Oxalis I bought. Thanks for your help.