Finding Your Four Leaf Clover

Saint Patrick’s Day is almost here and Bostonians are getting ready to celebrate by taking time to partake in some of the traditional activities associated with the holiday.  Sure we all will be wearing green and cooking our corn beef and cabbage meals but how about finding a little luck to go along with our plans this year?  One of the greatest customs associated with March 17^th is the possibility of discovering your dreams and wishes through a little luck!  For some it is a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow or catching a sneaky Leprechaun but for many, these tasks seem a bit too trying.  So how about something a bit more simple like finding a four-leaf clover?  Many believe that this is an impossible chore but in reality, four-leaf clovers are produced 1 in every 10,000 clovers.  The fourth leaf stems from a mutation of the plant where it is actually the first clover of a whole other specimen.  Now those odds don’t seem so bad do they?  You will also be surprised as to the number of suggestions experts have made to pin point probable locations that will help your search be more successful.  These are a few tips to get your investigations started and hears to finding a little bit of luck this Saint Patrick’s Day!

Hot Tips

1. Once the snow melts and the spring warms the earth once again, find a patch of lawn or visit a local park where there is an abundance of greenery in the area.  Seasonally, clove hunting extends through March all the way to August.  Great spots include baseball fields, backyards and even rocky topography, which ironically produces healthy clover. 

2. Stand upright over a large mass of clover and scan the area.  Do not bend down to look.  You will have a better chance from viewing and locating while standing erect and not crouched down.  Lightly brush your foot across the patch, gently separating the clumps so that the plants are flat.

3. Peer down to the clover and look for the patterns in the leaves and you will begin to notice how fast sets of threes will stand out from any sets of fours. 

4. Do not get discouraged if you have trouble at the start, your eyes will eventually adjust and pretty soon you will be picking your four-leaf clovers.  Be mindful that there may be several in one area because commonly, they grow efficiently with one another.  You should also know that there is accounts of five to eighteen clover samples in the wild so don’t limit yourself to only finding four!