Shamrock Plant Care | Year-Round Tips
Don’t throw your Shamrock plant away after Saint Patrick’s Day! Follow these shamrock plant care tips to keep shamrocks healthy year-round.
By Shelley Wigglesworth|Mar 17 2021|
Coffee By Design | Portland, Maine
Photo Credit : Katherine KeenanThe cultivated Shamrock plant (Oxalis regnellii) has hundreds of variations, and is found in abundance at retail locations around Saint Patrick’s Day. It has clover-shaped leaves that grow in variable shades of green and purple tones. Shamrock plants bloom periodically, with delicate white or pink flowers which peek out from clusters of leaves throughout their growing season. These whimsical, living good luck symbols can be enjoyed during the fall, winter, and spring months.
Photo Credit : Pixabay
Shamrock plants differ from most house plants in a few ways. For one, Shamrock plants grow from tiny bulbs that may be planted outside in fall or early spring, depending on the hardiness zone in which you live. They also fold up at night and re-open when light returns. These Splants require a dormant period in the summer time, and will begin to shut down, which Shamrock plant owners sometimes mistake for the plant being dead.
Shamrock Plant Care Tips
- Place the plant in an area that is room temperature and receives good air circulation and bright, but not direct, light.
- Soil should be kept lightly moist. Water sparingly and allow the soil to dry out between waterings.
- Fertilize with a balanced houseplant food every few months.
- When leaves begin to die back in late spring or early summer, the plant is telling you that it needs a time of dormancy to rest. At this time, move the plant to a cooler, darker location, away from direct light and do not water or fertilize it. The dormant period varies and may last anywhere from a few weeks to three months, depending on the cultivar and the conditions.
- After the first couple weeks of dormancy, check your plant for new growth every week or so.
- When new shoots appear, the dormancy period has ended. Move the plant back to a brighter location and resume the recommended regular plant care.
Have you ever kept a shamrock plant after St. Patrick’s Day? Share your shamrock plant care tips in the comments!
This post was first published in 2016 and has been updated.
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Benign neglect is my method. Admire at least twice a week.
I have the same shamrock plant since March 1987. I have not been good to it but the poor thing keeps living. Someone at work used to throw the last of their cold coffee (with cream and sugar) on it and that plant went crazy.
I’ve had my plants for years, a green one and a purple one. I have them sitting in filtered light, in the east window, and they love it! Yes coffee is great! I feed mine coffee once or twice a week. When they go dormant, I just cut them back and then they start all over again. I really don’t think that you can kill them. They also love egg shell water!
The bulbs have risen & are sitting on top of the dirt in the pot. Has been in same pot for 3 years. Should I cover the bulbs with new dirt or just leave it alone?
Put them in a fresh pot of soil. They should come backintime
I have 2 shamrock plants they both have outgrown their pots, is it best to plant them in larger pots or can you divide them?
I am trying to start a shamrock plant from a clipping. Will it work?
nope have to have a piece of the flesh root or bulb as in dip 4 leaf clovers…
I have had mine for 11 years. A Purple one. It grows in the spring and summer and goes dormant in the fall and winter. I put it out on my porch when it is growing. A squirrel knocked it over broke the pot and all the growth. I scooped it back into another pot. no leaves standing, just broken stems. Two week later the pot was full of leaves as if it never happened! I love this plant. I live in the woods and have no bright light yet it still does well, I think because I put it outside after the fear if frost and in before the next.
I have a plant from 2017 that came back after being dormant with larger, darker leaves and they are a different shape! A new plant this spring, same small leaves, just going dormant but this week, two new leaves, darker, larger and a different shape! Looks strange in the same pit with two types of leaves. I transplant the bulbs while dormant from the original three inch pot into a six inch pot, water only when dry and within a month of transplanting, new leaves started popping thru. Have never had one that changed like this.
I have had my shamrock plant since, well had it at our sons wedding in 1998, so before that..I water when dry, it’s outside all summer, in the shade, direct sunlight will burn the leaves, keep it looking nice take off old leaves, then cut it down to rejuvenate it..I am going to put it in the basement over the winter…water it periodically…
hello… your doing the right thing bu resting the plant in the basement……after the Winter Holidays are passed bring it up break it up and re-pot in fresh soil….you can do this every winter the plant will love it too…re pot pieces of the flesh colored bulb they will break up…re-pot 1/2” deep in new dirt……do this in mid January and you will have plenty plants to share come St. Patrick’s Day…enjoy….
I have had my purple shamrock for years. I split it up in the spring and put outside for the summer it usually comes back beautiful. This year it has grown so huge that I don’t have room for it. I want cut it back, but don’t know if I should.
these wonderful houseplants will divide and usually with many many extras…..you do this when plant has been dormant….. I let them go dormant frost free in garage to dry out for the winter holidays…bring them back divide come Feb or March when I am itching to grow something….just break up the flesh like bublets into pieces about the size of your fingernail…re pot this about 1/2″ dee….. I plant about 5 to 7 pieces per 4 inch pot….but they do make great window box fillers too… pack soil a little…water…in 2 weeks you will have many new plants to share…every year too….. same with the green Oxalis too….hardy in zones 9 – 10
I inherrited my mom’s and it blooms year round so I am confused when others talk about it going dormant???
I am right there with you. I have had mine for over a year and it has bloomed year round and is flourishing. I call it my “happy” plant as it make me smile every time I look at it.
I have had two indoor Shamrocks since 1983, reported only once. I fertilize a couple of times a year. They seem to be rather sentimental and temperamental. When I go away for extended periods they don’t do as well(could be the caretaker doesn’t sing Broadway show tunes to them like I do) and when my Irish father died three years ago I thought they were going to die too. Apparently we went through mourning together then they bloomed and bloomed like never before on my covered porch all summer!
Do you cut the plant back before putting it away for its dormancy?
I purchased my first shamrocks In February. They both were beautiful and I kept them in my living room where my window faces South
I still have the green one however, the dark purple one seem to suffer from neglect after a month away in hospital.
I sadly had to dispose of the purple one. It had no disease that I could see.
As I take care of it’s brother. It’s been almost 6 months and I noticed some brown tips on each leader! I have it in another room facing South. I plan to keep this one in my care! I am thankful that Alex(shamrock) is doing ok. But these brown spots are a concern!
I read a comment regarding use of coffee for their shamrock plant. Was this coffee grounds?
I put my shamrock to be dormant after all the leaves seemed to die but it is in the other room in a less light place and the plant is sprouting what should I do
I was left with my mothers shamrock 6 years ago. It seems to flourish with little care. I cut it right back once or twice a year
I successfully let my shamrock go dormant and now it is flourishing, but it is also very ‘leggy.’ I really don’t mind, but the stems are 10” to almost 12.” Is this normal?
It sounds as though it’s not getting enough light. I keep mine in a northern exposure where it does very well.
Is there any way to keep leaves open for an evening? I would like to use shamrock plants for centerpieces.
I just bought a shamrock plant green with a few flowers and very leggy. Cut the legs off to the 1inch of soil and threw them away. Did I do the right thing. It has lush leaves on now. What did I do wrong or right
I was given a plant years ago. I had it in a pot but later planted it outside. I looked the other day and it is blooming and now there are other shamrocks coming up in other locations all by themselves. I live in Orlando. Zisney has nothing on these shamrocks!
a friend gave me one in a two in pot and i transferred it to a bigger pot after splitting it in half . I placed it in the west window and it is doing good.
I have purchased shamrocks, both green and purple, around Patrick’s Day for years and always plant them in my garden outside after the holiday. They come up every year in April or May and bloom all summer and till frost occurs. They have spread and virtually occupy the whole flower bed. I get such great pleasure watching them bloom. I live in Maryland so apparently this climate suits them perfectly.
I have several shamrock plants that I received and I want to plant them outside in a shady, kind of rocky spot… do you think they will grow?
I have my Mother’s plant that she always
called a Shamrock. Do they have roots little a tiny carrot?
Does anyone think it’s better to give the Shamrock a rest period with no water when it starts to go dormant? I can’t understand how it would grow shoots again if given no water for weeks. Also, my plant is so thirsty. My mother got it from a store a few weeks ago and told me it liked a really generous watering once per day. It seems to perk up after its been watered. I water at night but have noticed it seems all light and thirsty again in the morning. Maybe it’s because it’s in the original small pot it came in and the soil is cheap? The care directions on the card that came with it say keep the soil moderately dry. So I’m confused. Any suggestions or insights for best general care instructions would be appreciated! ????
I have shamrock we got when we purchased our home 20 years ago. We let it go dormant in the winter and bring it out on the spring. We forgot about it last summer. Is there a chance it might come back?
I have a shamrock my mother gave me, that was in her kitchen window when I was a teenager. I am now 60 years old. Never have divided or fertilized it. We give it water every now and then. It goes through cycles, bunches of stalks, then not so many. Flowers several times a year. I am not sure you can kill them.
Ive seen people asking if they can be grown from cuttings and the has alwasy been no. Well that is wrong. My Mom gave me to cut stems from her plant wrapped in tissue paper. I planted them in a pot with the ends still wrapped in tissue and they took! After a few weeks I removed them from the soil and pulled off the tissue paper and each stem had grown a little ‘foot’ on the end. They were planted back in the soil and we are now on our way to a pot full of shamrock plants and it is even flowering! You can grow any plant or tree from a cutting and dont let anyone tell you differently!
I love my shamrock. Keep it west window with sheer curtains to filter light. Started with a small 4 or 5” pot. Now in a 10” home. Three years ago a relative who is of Alsatian descent with an Irish mother claims only Irish was celebrating his 90th b.d. I took my shamrock out of the pot, cut a pie shaped wedge and potted it. Then I squeezed the wedge on my plant added more potting mix and put it back in the same pot. My relative was delighted and calls me to report on its continued health. Mine looked forlorn for a while but recovered to my lovely happy plant that makes me smile. It sleeps at night, flowers and reaches for light every day or so, I turn it, love it but have never seen a dormant period. It sheds leaves and I keep them cleared away. With that success I just shared another wedge with my grandson this week. I don’t worry that it is damaged. So much pleasure!
I am pleasantly surprised! I have a shamrock that I’ve had since last St. Patricks day, it’s doing well but always looks so delicate! I would not have know you can take cuttings! I’ll have to try that!
I bought my first shamrock plant 3 years ago around St. Patrick’s Day. Very small with about 10 leaves. I am an awful gardener, kill everything. I read up on it, babied it, it flowered and grew very big and full. I bought a second the following year. I have cut off stems and started new plants. I have 3 huge plants now and a new one starting. So proud of myself. The article says they go dormant in winter but mine go dormant in winter. They are starting to go dormant now and it will last through most of the winter just about until St. Patrick’s Day. But I have never put them in the dark and always watered ocassionally. May try that mainly because it looks like I have dead plants all over my house
I purchased a Shamrock about a month ago. It has grown quite a bit with four flowers. I’ve watered two or three times, maybe too much. But it isn’t full any more, even in that short time I’ve had it. Just seems to be getting taller and leggy. How can I get it to grow fuller? It sits near an East/Southeast widow indirect bright light. It’s in a four inch pot.
I’ve had my Shamrock for 17 years, repotted once. When it gets too big I cut it back to the top of the pot and it fills out so pretty. It has blooms most of the time
I have had my shamrocks in the same pot for 15 years. I have them facing east and in indirect sunlight. I have never fed them anything but water as needed. The plant literally sucks water up which I check constantly. I have very few blossoms in the summer and I now have approximately 40 plants blooming on the 1st of March. Along with the beautiful green 3 leaf plant that we all know in design is another independent plant that is very delicate and white in color that flourishes amongst my green clover plants. The clove plant is known by us all as the “Shamrock”. Is there an official name for the white flower plant that is official? I grew up in an Irish family and we called it a “Cockadill Flower”. Is that a name that is officially given the flower portion of the Shamrock?
My grandmother had a pink Oxalis and gave part of it to my mother over 80 years ago. I planted part of it Outdoors about 30 years ago and it is still growing nicely and it started several new plants around it. It blooms in the spring and fall and stays green all winter long. When the weather gets hot it dies off completely.
my shamrock is getting to look all leggy and arms. what am I to do? it’s been a good plant to me.
So was mine leggy and was told from a garden house to cut it back, I did and it is now coming back. Beautiful
Cut back and will regrow.Don’t water
I’ve had my shamrock for 17yrs and am afraid it finally died the week Texas froze this year. We were in the 20’s for a week. I covered it and then waited until it thawed and dried before watering it. It’s never taken this long to come back. I lightly dug around a little area of one pot today and didn’t find any bulbs. Anyone know if there’s still a chance it will return?
My shamrock has the white flowers but it has unusual little upside down heart shaped “leaves” at the end of the flower stem. Is this a rare thing? Can not find any information on this anomaly?
March 18th, I went out for my weekly shopping at my local Kroger a little suprised to see they had Shamrock Plants Marked down so far that I bought two purple and two green plants for what One single plant would have cost a few days before. My late Father’s birthday being the 19th of March it just struck a nice remeberance. So I came home with four plants in 3×3 box and thoughts of mixing them as a multiple mixture in planters soon was broken. I looked at one to discover the root system so thick the thought of splitting them probably would have ended them. So to the plant shop for larger pots and potting soil. I planted them one of each color to half & half planters for my front porch. They started a little bit seperated by 6″ s but soon thrived to look as one plant that had grown in two shades neighbors asked if it was a light or plant food change I just explained they came in two colors and just grown to fill the pot. Kids have asked if any had 4 leaves, but I just smiled no, but they make my brown thumb feel lucky. While birds and squirrels did their best to claim the pots, they have continued to brightened the porch since. It’s just 2 days from September now and no signs of dying back or hibernation never showed I didn’t know to even look for it. Other then a few times when the wildlife we feed at 2 large 60+ year old christmas trees my parents had bought as root ball trees signifying my brother and my first Christmas trees. Those trees hid the house so completely after my parents died and I became owner of the house. I cut the bottom 6 feet of limbs at the trunk to the laughing remarks of ‘Oh ! There is a house back there ! ‘ During our renovations started last fall we had a new roof but the gutters and leaf toppers waited til late April of this year. So they never became the hanging plants I had envisioned. The squirrels, chipmonks to all size birds from Crows & Bluejays down to tiny brown birds that could easily be held three in a hand had they been inclined.
Occasionally would partially dig into the dirt of the plants both have been caught in the disturbed uprooted planters so who to blame a mystery, having no particular preference to green or purple, nor really caught in the act, more just looking at the damage. I would just water liberally when I uprighted the displaced approximately fourth of the area of the pot and within a day or two you couldn’t tell what had been tossed out onto their leaves beside the pot. These replacing the partial tossed out plants were the only time I watered them God took care of the rest of their care I just enjoyed seeing them in a 6-8 inch crown and some cascading down the sides of the 12″ across and 15″ deep pots they had been placed in back in March. I was just checking the possibility of keeping alive thru winter to enjoy next spring.
I bought a shamrock plant in March for St. Patrick’s day. It was in a small, 4″ container and I had it on my kitchen table. I assumed it was a “throw-away” plant and didn’t know anything about growing them. The beginning of April I thought it had died so I dumped it outside into a spare pot of dirt I was saving for new annuals. It was dry as a bone. The pot of dirt got moved to a neglected location. I found it in May and it had taken over that 12″ pot looking huge and beautiful. I moved the pot to a semi-shaded location and it has bloomed and looked gorgeous all summer. Now it’s September and still looking great, although now I know it will be going dormant soon. I love this plant!
I grew up in OR and there were shamrocks all over the place in moist, forested areas along hiking trails. We would eat the leaves; they taste like a granny apple!
Someone gave me a dixue cup with shamrocks in it for St. Patrick’s Day in 2012…it grew like crazy , going dormant every winter until I shared some dormant bulbs with my SIL in 2019…now it is huge and never goes dormant ..I have no idea why the information about them says to water sparingly..this plant is in a twelve inch wide pot and has shoots that are 10 to 12 inches tall and it demands a half gallon of water a week…It’s beautiful !
I’m not Irish. I respect the symbolism of reference to the Trinity of God. I live in Marysville CA. I have for the past 5 years been growing both the purple an green oxalis outdoors along the western side of my home well past St.
Patrick’s day. Currently 9/2/2023 and they are thriving well. They do well covered by shade from 12:45pm PST on.