Growing Little Green Thumbs by Ruby Haydock-DeLoach
A Patch of Clover
“I’m looking over a four-leaf clover I overlooked before. One leaf is sunshine; the second is rain. Third is the roses that grow in the lane. No need expaining the one remaining is somebody I adore. I’m looking over a four-leaf clover I overlooked before.” People have been singing along with these lyrics since they were written by Mort Dixon in 1927. Searching and reading about four-leaf clovers reveals interesting legends. The Christian legend says Eve carried a four leaf clover with her when she left the Garden of Eden. The intrepretation of this is that anyone who has one can claim to hold a bit of Paradise. Children in the Middle Ages believed that they could see fairies if they carried a four-leaf clover. It became a great game for them to search the garden first for a four-leaf clover, and again for fairies!
The expression “rolling in clover” means you are well off. Being well off doesn’t have to mean wealth. It can mean happiness. How much happy time can be found in a patch of clover? It is up to you and your little green thumb buddy. Find a patch of white or red clover blooms and search for the lucky four-leaf clover. The odds are 1 in 10,000 to find one. The four petals symbolize faith, hope, love and luck. Recently, I bought a garden book at a thrift shop and found a four-leaf clover pressed between the pages and added it to my Lucky in Love art. As luck would have it, the painting sold the next week.
When something good finally happens for you, some call it luck; while others call it 5% luck + 95% perspiration and preparation. It is possible to cultivate the hybrid clovers by removing the plants with this mutation by the roots and replanting. The plant is fragile, so have a water source to place it in when picked. Planting them is a protected space in your garden helps you make it easier to find four leaf clovers. Who knows? Perhaps you will spot a fairy!
