I promise you, this purple shamrock plant (technically called “Oxalis“) does not die. You can even take the winter completely off from caring for it at all, and it will still reward you all summer long. In other words, this is the perfect plant for me, as I just don’t like to make the time in my packed schedule to deal with plants’ needs. (There are enough needs in my house!!) The plant was given to us by some friends who came to our annual St. Pat’s Day party and after putting it in a pretty pot and giving it a bright orange gnome, I decided, alright, let’s give this a go.
After awhile, it started to get “leggy”, which is just to say it got sparse and the stems were super-long, and overall, it just wasn’t pretty anymore. Here it is near the end of October.
Turns out, you can cut all the stems off down to an inch long or so and then store in your basement or wherever you can best put it out of your mind. Then, once you start watering it again, it comes back to life. Here’s your proof:
This is the plant after being brought back up from the basement. I brought it back out in April, after returning from our spring road trip. First time it’s seen the light of day in months.
Ten days later, little sprouts are coming up! What?!!
A month after that, voila! It’s back to it’s happy purple shamrock self!
Who knew?!
Looks much nicer than Selaginella lepidophylla (the dinosaur fern). That fern completely dries out and comes back with water as well. I suspect it’s hardier than oxalis, but oxalis is much prettier.
Thanks for contributing another option! I figured there MUST be others, but I know nothing about plants. ; )