This is a lovely hardy perennial in most places but tends to be a houseplant in the extreme heat of the Gulf. As usual, a friend handed me a small plant in the middle of September, and it grew rapidly on my patio and has beautiful flowers every day.
It is a member of the wood sorrel family and has lovely lavender or white flowers. It is a rhizomatous plant which means it is propagated by bulbs or rhizomes. Therefore, you can propagate by division. It needs well-drained loamy soil and needs to be in bright light if indoors or in part sun if outdoors. I would not suggest full sun in the Gulf and the rays are quite strong even in winter. Keep it outside from October to April and it will reward you with glorious foliage and pretty, white to lavender colour flowers. Mine is deep maroon in colour but you have other varieties which have green or variegated leaves. It is called false Shamrock as it resembles the shamrock leaves so beloved in Ireland.
Make sure you fertilize regularly in the season but be careful not to overwater. Water when the soil surface is dry. In winter when outside I water every third day. Indoors it will need watering once a week. If near a window with direct sun keep it away from the glass and away from a direct AC blast.
Use a mix of potting soil, perlite and some vermicompost while planting it. Rotate the pot regularly so that it grows evenly bushy (tip by Kauser Ismail). When you do move it indoors fertilize with the fertilizer spikes available which you need to replace once in 4-6 weeks.
It is mildly toxic as ingesting large quantities can cause Kidney issues, so it is better to keep it out of reach of curious animals and pets. However, it is also used as decoration on salads and desserts as it has a tangy citrusy flavour and a few leaves or flowers do not cause any harm and add flavour to desserts and salads.
It closes up at night both flowers and leaves and gave me a shock the first time I saw that. But not to worry it is back again as the light gets brighter in the morning.
Enjoy your Purple Shamrock, she is surely a sight to behold!
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