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FOUR LEAF CLOVERS
BLARNEY OR FICTION
By: Kirk Fitzpatrick
It is a fact! Four leaf clovers really do exist. And they are relatively easy to spot if you know what and where to look for them.
  The plant on which you will find this magical beauty is called the Trifolium Repens. Tri for three and folium for foliage. The most common name for this little mound of lore is the White Clover!
The leaves, as legend has it, stand for wonderful things. One Leaf is for hope, The Second is for faith, The Third is for love, and The Fourth is for luck.
When you have a three leaf clover it stands for the Holy Trinity. One Leaf is the Father, One Leaf is the Son, and the other leaf is the Holy Spirit.
Now, how to find the lucky four leaf clover.
The four leaf clovers are more readily found on the mature mounds of white clover.
The clover foliage grows in a mound type of formation, then seeds on the topsoil, then sends a runner and then grows and repeats. So, if you look for a large mound, which would then be indicative of an older plant, your chance of finding a four leaf clover would be far greater than say searching for one on a newly developed runner.
The clover is an ancient foliage and most believe they originated from Asia Minor and Europe.
There are many folkloric tales to the four leaf clover. Such as, maidens are able to watch fairies dance if they wear a four leaf clover upon their apron. And good luck is soon to come to one who finds a four leaf clover.
Also, legend has it that Eve carried a four leaf clover from Eden.
But truth be told, I suppose good luck may come to one who finds a four leaf clover. For, I suppose, if one has the time and inclination to look for a leaf in a mound of others, one may also have the time to find to the good in his world.
 Vermont, a New England state in America, has the clover as their state flower.
Vermont boasts the clover, albeit the red clover, as the coveted flower of their dairy and honey industry; because the clover is filled with: nutrients for their cows; and pollen for their bees; and fills their soil with nutrients such as nitrogen.
So, the Vermont red clover makes for great grazing and meadows. And although they boast their flower for their smooth and deliciously rich honey, it is really the white clover that is responsible for their honey. The flower of their state, the red clover, is too deep for the honeybees to reach the nectar, but the flower on the white clover is just right.
The popular white clover is quite easy to grow. In some parts of the world, it can be grown all year long.
Any plant nursery sells the clover. Be certain to ask for the white clover. There is also dwarf clover. When you plant a new plant it will take to almost any soil and enjoys a clay soil.
The clover plant will begin to grow new runners upon maturation. The lovely white clover flowers will begin to form when the whether is warmer and the days have at least 14 hours or so of sunlight.
The mounds of the clover will grow and grow and their new offspring runners will sire more lovely flowers; possibly for centuries.
The flower usually blooms from spring to fall, but in some areas it may bloom all year round. The bloom time is generally from 12-20 days and with many blossoms on a plant, they will, more than likely overlap their blooms.
 The blooming period typically begins after the first spring's grazing or cutting. Although the flowers generally bloom from late spring to fall, some areas have them all year long, yet in other areas they are perennial and in still others, it's an annual.
The plant is mainly an annual in warm climates and a biennial in cold. They will generally continue to grow and to cover new territory. Clover has a beautiful mind of its own and will toss its beauty wherever it can.
Here's the great news, white clover may also be grown indoors.
It is so simple and wonderful to do, especially for the devoted believers.
When you place your fresh clover into the potting soil and it begins to send out its runners, you must pinch those runners off.
Runners require soil and since there is none, well, other than what the main mound is in, the new runners will simply grow a little, turn brown and then wither and die. So, before the misery begins, just pinch them off. That way, your mature plant will be able to save those nutrients and give them to the blooming lucky flowers.
For centuries, the clover has been growing and blanketing the world, maybe it is time we brought a little of the luck indoors.
Good luck and good growing.
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