To shamrock or not to shamrock?

We have two fairly good-sized shamrock plants in pots here. Most summers they can be seen in the area under the linden. One is purple and one is green.

Every fall I bring them into the house, and they eventually go into my office. They give me all-winter mini flowers, and occasionally I hear rustling in late fall from a ladybug who made it in with the shamrocks, usually the purple one.

I cannot say how long I have had the Shamrocks. Probably close to, if not over 15 years now. I remember buying them one St. Patrick’s season, at the grocery store across town. They were in those tiny 3-4″ pots, and very inexpensive. I thought it would be “fun” 😊 My husband and our younger son teased that Yes! We definitely needed more plants! Hahaha!

I have given divisions to other people and they haven’t done well. But those two shamrocks are very healthy here.

There have been years where I have been sooooo looking to get the shamrocks back outside. This year is not one of them. They are very happy inside this year.

But alas! They are part of the ecosystem here. In the spring they go out, and the robins pluck the dead stuff for their nests. Eventually the wind gets to them, and all the leaves die back, and then it is just soil until they grow back and fill in stronger than ever.

It looks like the robins are starting to pair up. I am thinking they will be starting to build their nests soon. The bird bath should go out today so they can have water to make mud, and the shamrocks could go out next week after our forecasted cool and rainy weekend.

When we do move them out, I will miss them in my office, but they are starting to get that “good material for birds nests” look. Yes, I put some egg shells in there. Another post about those on the way.

Shamrocks

Quite a few years ago I bought a couple of those little shamrock plants they have in the grocery store around St. Patrick’s day.  They grew and grew.  The larger of a plant pot I gave them, the larger they got.  We stopped at this size because we have to bring them in during the winter.  About 6 years ago I put gladiolas in when I gave it a new pot.  The tall leaves are the remnants that come back every year.  The green shamrock in the background was the other one I bought.  I have shared both many times, and still they fill up the pots every year.

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About a month ago we found a new baby bird in there.  Apparently the shamrock was a soft landing place.  It eventually jumped out and we watched it learn to fly.  That was kind of neat too.