A Gardeners Forum Forums Gardening Reference Gardening in 2004 Help! with Shamrock

Help please with an Oxalis regnellii 'Alba' that my dear Hubby bought recently. It's in a 4" pot, and was beautiful, healthy, and blooming just days ago!

I know you can't always trust plant info on "store bought" plant markers. But it recommended sun, so I placed it in a window that was sunny at the time. It looked fine until today. Now it's all wilted and dying!

I've had some experience with houseplants, which the label said this could be. However, we have native varieties of Oxalis in our yard, lilac, with a few yellow or white ones. These do fine outside, and I let them be and enjoy them.

But we still have a bit of threat of colder weather (35º, but could go lower) this week, so I was planning to wait until next week to plant it outside.

Now, if I don't do something tomorrow, I believe I will lose it. I put it in the refrigerator for about an hour and it perked up some, but wilted again when I took it out. (This idea was based on nurseries using refrigeration for flowers to keep them fresh, and it's only ~40º.

What should I do? If it should be outside, should I plant it where the volunteer varieties seem to thrive (part shade), or will this variety need different conditions? It's sure not working inside, even for a short time.

The soil is moist, so no drying out, but could be too moist. Not soggy though.

I've always wanted to have these, but have had no success. Thought it was wrong zone. But I checked, and Ireland has the same zones we do (8-9).

Also, my hubby is terribly disappointed, as he is Irish!

H-E-L-P quick!!!!

Thanks!

Judith

Judith,
How about a garage window,
and maybe not direct sun into the
window on it.... ?????
The garage would be cooler????

I'm only guessin' here???

Weezie

Maybe someone else

Thanks Weezie! I really appreciate your genuine concern and assistance for each of us!

In this plant case, I did not have or seek needed info as soon as I should. But I would still love to save this plant. So I'm sure someone will come along who knows.

We can't all be experts on everything, and that's our strength. Each of us has something to offer of value.

Hi Judith,
I grow the purple variety as both a houseplant and in the garden. Some years it gets too cold and doesn't come back in the garden so I bring it in. I find it likes part sun and likes to dry out before watering again. The leaves of these plants will close up during the dark hours.

I saw these plants growing wild in Peru and Ecuador and they mostly like part sun and do wilt in full sun. They seem to perk up with the shade and cooler weather. The are considered a weed there. Go figure. Here's a site that should be helpful.

http://www.bulb.com/summerguide98/oxalis.asp

Newt

Thanks Newt, and Weezie!

I think, although it still looks very sad, that it may have survived. It spent last night in the frig and seemed to perk up. The weather outside was cold, relatively speaking, but there is supposed to be a warming trend for the rest of the week, so I hope we're done with frost for the year.

I'll try it outside tomorrow in a spot that gets a bit of morning sun but shade the rest of the day and see how it does.

This process has been very educational for me. I've learned a lot more about the whole species. I think/hope it will live happily beside it's purple volunteer cousins.

I was initially thinking cold climate (Ireland), when their zone is same as mine. Now I know that it grows in Ecuador and Peru! Must not be too picky!

Thanks again both of you for your help and advice. It was very comforting that I could turn to my GH friends for help!

Judith

Judith, you're very welcome!

Newt

Even if your shamrock ends up looking "dead", and even goes down to nothing but the soil in the pot, it WILL come back. Just keep taking care of it as usual...indirect sun, and water when it has dried out. Don't throw it away even if you think it's gone. It's not!

mine die back in the heat and will bloom pretty much year round.I have green leafed with pinkish blooms almost has a purplish line down the petals.I don't have a purple leafed variety but would GLADLY welcome one.I have the wild one with yellow flowers smaller leaves and a lighter green& yeah we use to eat it when kids when playing...was our "salad"mixed with clovers.the clumps will have lil tubers so your tuber may be fine.mine are scattered about in yard and have moved some to a shady spot with my hostas& ajuga(which is blooming now,nice blue flowers& my hosta are wakeing up) this plant data base has some info and can read posters comments which I just LOVE.I see it grows in FL but not sure where ya at.
Good luck& do stay and hang about

Hi Judith,
I have a shamrock that I keep in my bay window indoors (don't know the name, I bought it at the grocery store). It loves fall and winter when its cooler , that's when it really grows and flowers for me. As soon as it gets warmer it slows down, its still growing just much slower. So, just like Afgreyparrot stated, it may look like its dying but it may just be adjusting to the temps and it will come back. I've had mine for years and its doing just fine. My sister has split her's and it took a while for it to fill out again but its blooming away! We are both in zone 9 and keep ours indoors in a window. Good luck!!

You know what....I don't think you can KILL shamrocks if you try! 25 years ago when my younger brother was a self-centered spoiled teenager he got mad at my mom for something and poured gasoline in her pot of shamrocks and lit it. (Now he is a self-centered grown man!) She had inherited this shamrock from my great aunt who had died a few years earlier, and it meant the world to her. I took it home and got all the little tubers out and washed them with a toothbrush in dishwashing liquid, then potted them in a nice new pot with new potting soil. That beautiful pot of shamrocks is sitting by my computer. I have given pots of it to almost everyone in my family, and the more I separate it, the more it keeps growing! And since it was my great aunt's, it means the world to all of us. She has been dead for 28 years.

Oh, thanks to all of you!

I always believed that the Shamrock was a very special plant,

Anyway, it's great to have such a supportive family of gardeners who understand how it feels to have a sick plant. I always really hate to lose one. I've become convinced that plant life is no different from animal life. They suffer and/or thrive, just like all the rest of us. God made us all! And he knows when any of us are in distress and cares.

Well, that's my soapbox for today!

Thanks again to all of you for your concern and reassurance.

By the way, "Shammy" is spending its first day and night outdoors, so I hope that the weather cooperates!

Judith

Sweet zzzz's to Shammy! See you in the morning!

Newt

There is an Irish blessing about the shamrock that goes something like this...

There's a dear little plant that grows in our isle,
'Twas Saint Patrick himself, sure, that set it;
And the sun of his labor with pleasure did smile,
And with dew from his eye often wet it.
It grows through the bog, through the brake, through the mireland
And they call it the dear little Shamrock of Ireland

That's lovely!

Judith

Hi Judith,

I was given an oxalys last fall and had a similar problem with it- the leaves all died! The advice I was given was to remove it from its pot, wash the roots carefully, and repot it in fresh soil. Apparently the roots are prone to a fungus? Anyways, I did this and 2 months later, the plant has not only recovered but is now in bloom! Good luck!