As visions of shamrocks danced in my head this week, I found myself suddenly transported back to first grade. One thing I recall clearly all these years later, is the vast, emerald field of clover that stood adjacent to my school.
The teacher would occasionally allow the class to while away recess period scouring patches of clover in search of that rare four-leaf specimen hiding among the three-leaf species. If a student was lucky enough to find one, he or she would be prince or princess for a day.
I don’t remember ever unearthing one myself, but I do remember the tingle of excitement at the mere possibility of discovering something so unique. And, whether or not you claimed the prize you still got to bask in the sunshine and play on a soft blanket of green, compliments of Mother Nature.
That’s what I love about plants, besides being a joy in their own right, they provide all kinds of bonus thrills to keep aficionados engaged. Four-leaf clovers are uncommon, but, according to Wikipedia, a man recorded finding a 21-leaf(!) clover in 2008. (How would you like to have his luck?)
Mulling over garden rarities brought a much more recent memory to mind. I planted containers of morning glory and moonflower in my balcony garden last season, as I’ve done for several years now. I use them as climbers that grab onto my net lights and create a virtual wall of lush foliage punctuated with flowers: heavenly blue morning glory blossoms in the a.m. and white moonflower blooms in the p.m.
Now I find these plants quite miraculous to begin with: in sync with some sort of cosmic clock that times them to bloom only in the morning or at night, and, but for just one instance. Amazing!
But, adding an additional fascination to the mix, one solitary day last year a fragrant moonflower defied the odds and put its circadian rhythm aside, lingering long enough to join its morning glory cousin in daylight bloom. In fact, on that late-season day both the morning glory and moonflower pictured lasted through the entire day into early evening!
I had a moonflower stay open till the morning before a few summers back, but this was even more unusual!
What are some of the rare or surprising occurrences you’ve observed in your garden? Please share them in your comments.
That’s unusual for morning glory! So nice to have those beautiful blooms whole day 🙂
Something unusual? Not that I could think of. But I find it strange to see my Euphorbia milii flower colour turn out different from when I got them.
Avis, have you come across dwarf morning glory like Convolvulus Ensign Red? I was tempted to get some. But I think the plant will make a nice addition to your garden.
Hi Stephanie,
I did try planting the blue and white convolvulus a couple of times but never had much success. I also didn’t have any luck with the four o’clocks, which bloom in the afternoon. I thought morning glory in the a.m., four o’clock in the afternoon and moon flower at night. Maybe I’ll give them another shot… Cheers!