Happy St. Patrick's Day

[dibbles]

My shamrock has been blooming for almost two weeks! Maybe that means a better than usual spring is on the way?

 

[IrishLass]

Happy St. Patrick's Day!


I grow shamrocks, too, only mine are a slightly different breed. The leaves are rounded like the leaves on the above avatar, and the flowers are pinkish/fuschia. Below is a pic I took of them today. The flowers are not usually downturned like what is pictured, but more level. They look downturned like that because it was very windy when I snapped the pic:

IrishLass

 

[dibbles]

Your plant is so pretty, IrishLass. Mine definitely likes its life better in the summer when I can move it outside. I'm not sure what variety this is. It is a division of my Irish Grandmother's plant. She said her mother (or her grandmother?) brought it with them when they immigrated from Ireland. Now that may be blarney, but I am pretty sure it isn't, since she had that plant ever since I could remember. I don't know where else her mother would have gotten one way back then (my grandmother was married in the 1920's and I would think that is when she started her plant from her mother's). I like the story anyway

 

[jcandleattic]

LOVE the plant Irish.
My mom gave me a shamrock plant on our wedding day (15th wedding anniversary yesterday) but we left the next day for 2 weeks on our honeymoon, but even though we had her and my dad come sit the dogs, and they had the kids with them, they neglected to water it, so we came home to a dead plant. I was very sad, but I've never went out and gotten a new one. Some day maybe.
My traditions for St. Patrick's Day are more centered around the food (and drink!! LOL) and this is usually what I do on the 18th (the 17th is reserved for revelry and the parade downtown)
I have a traditional Irish breakfast, make some soda bread, Dublin coddle, and Irish stew.
For my Irish Coffee, I just add Jameson and Brendan's (I like this brand of Irish liquor so much better than Bailey's) into my strongly brewed coffee. (I refuse to drink instant like they do in most European countries including Ireland!!)
I start the prep for all this usually on the 16th, (like the soda bread, I make that ahead of time) get the coddle ingredients ready to put in the water, get the Irish stew ingredients ready and put into the crock-pot then slow cook it all day.
It's all very hearty and not a lot of work really.

 

[Obsidian]

I have a couple shamrocks like irishlass but one has golden veins in the leaves. I've had the triangle leaves ones too, I like them all.

I didn't make corned beef this year, bought it but didn't cook it. I have irish stew simmering at the moment, first time making it, smells fantastic. Making soda bread later too, thanks for the idea jcandleattic

 

[IrishLass]

Your plant is so pretty, IrishLass. Mine definitely likes its life better in the summer when I can move it outside.

Mine thrives from about December to May-ish when the temps here are cooler (high 30's to 80-ish F), and goes completely dormant in the summer/fall when the temps are constantly in the triple digits. I have a permanent patch planted in my backyard that gets a lot of sun, and another permanent patch in my front yard that gets very minimal sun, if at all. The one planted in the backyard is the one in bloom right now. The one in the front has no flowers on it yet, but the leaves on that one are much larger than the leaves on the one in the backyard.

I'm not sure what variety this is. It is a division of my Irish Grandmother's plant. She said her mother (or her grandmother?) brought it with them when they immigrated from Ireland. Now that may be blarney, but I am pretty sure it isn't, since she had that plant ever since I could remember. I don't know where else her mother would have gotten one way back then (my grandmother was married in the 1920's and I would think that is when she started her plant from her mother's). I like the story anyway

That is so cool to be able to pass down a piece of Ireland to your family! Mine is a division given to me by a very dear friend about 28 years ago from his back yard here in the southwest US. I'm amazed it has survived this long considering how hot it gets here in the summer/fall.

We had a bit of a scare, though, about 5 years ago in the fall when they were in their normal dormancy stage where I thought they were a goner for sure, but not because of the heat. For whatever reason some crazed birds started frantically pecking and digging up the root bulbs and flying off with them. They also did the same to some dead potted house plants that I had temporarily placed outside on my patio until I could clean them up. They pecked and dug down into the dirt in the pots and left quite a mess. Never in all my gardening days had I ever seen such crazed bird activity take place in my yard. It was really bizarre. Anyway, I nearly cried thinking my shamrocks given to me by such a dear friend were no more, but lo and behold a few popped up their heads in January and soon multiplied themselves back into the nice, full patch that they were prior to the bizarre bird incident. It probably sounds very silly to get so emotional over a patch of shamrocks, but I jumped for joy when I saw them pop up.

My traditions for St. Patrick's Day are more centered around the food (and drink!! LOL)

I normally cook up some soda bread and corned beef and cabbage, but this year I made a big pot of my homemade chicken noodle soup instead due to the latest snotty, hacking virus making its rounds. My nephew (who is currently staying with us) and my hubby got the worse of said snotty, hacking virus, but today they are doing so much better.

IrishLass

 

[artemis]

Mine lived on the kitchen shelf above the electric kettle. The daily dose of steam kept it happy for years. When the kettle died, the shamrock did, too.