♣ Happy St. Patrick’s Day ♣
Good luck in the garden
Shamrocks are considered a good luck symbol; representing faith, hope and love. The age-old saying: “The Luck of the Irish” with its magical mysticism just might rub off in our gardens today with a little St. Patty’s Day symbolism.
The word Shamrock comes from an Irish word meaning little clover and is said to have gotten its symbolic meaning in Ireland in about the fifth century. St. Patrick used the abundantly growing green shamrock to teach Christianity by using a natural method to show the concept of the holy trinity. Each leaf representing the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
The shamrock was a sacred plant in Ireland even before St. Patrick with the Irish Druids because the leaves in a cluster of three formed a triad. Currently the shamrock is still used as a good luck symbol and popular with Irish brides as the clovers are intertwined in bridal bouquets.
Botanically speaking:
“The true Irish Shamrock, as identified by Nathaniel Colgan c. 1893 is a clover. It is not one of any or many clovers, it is one species, collected from a majority of counties at that time and with the exception of a very few plants, the majority were Trifolium repens or a form of this plant – White clover also known as Dutch Clover”. …’From Ireland’ © Jane Lyons, Dublin, Ireland