Plants We Love: Shamrock Plant
The shamrock plant (Oxalis regnellii) can be too aggressive in gardens, but it makes a fun and pretty houseplant. It’s widely sold around St. Patrick’s Day. Here’s how to keep a potted shamrock healthy all year long.
Plant name: Shamrock Plant
Botanical name:Oxalis regnellii
Virtues: Houseplant with shamrock-shaped bright green foliage and dainty white flowers on tall, delicate stems. Blooms in late winter/early spring.
Foliage: Triangular leaflets held in threes atop slender stems.
Flower: Five-petaled simple white flowers held in groups of five or six atop slender stems, rising just above foliage.
Habit: Dense with leaves on individual stems. Grows from a rhizome.
Season: Spring
Origin: South America
Cultivation: Bright indirect light; some direct sun OK. Allow soil to dry slightly between waterings. Fertilize with houseplant fertilizer in summer, and place plant in shady location outdoors. Leaves die down in fall; stop watering. Start again in early February to encourage the plant out of dormancy.
