Friday Flowers Club #42~Trefoil

Hello Friends.

Whilst out on a walk this weekend I was stopped by a wonderful pop of colour, this beautiful yet unassuming Red Clover. Our native Clover population has declined rapidly since the 1930s through heavy fertiliser use and intense agriculture, and I took a moment to reflect on how it was almost untypical to see this flower now, whereas when I was a child carpets of clover in meadows and verges were so commonplace that I took them for granted.

Few flowers are as deeply intertwined with magic and myth in this country as the humble Trifolium. And whilst we are all familiar with the idea of a ‘lucky’ four leaf Clover the folkloric background to this tiny plant runs much deeper, because it wasn’t supposed to just bring luck, it was supposed to shatter ‘glamour’; enchantments and spells cast by faeries and witches. To carry a four leaf clover was to pierce the veil of magic and see the world for how it really was, to acquire near omnipotence.

Even three-leaf Clovers had immense importance, going as far back as the Celtic Druids, who used them as symbols of the Triple Goddess; Maiden Mother and Crone, and considered them protection against malevolent spirits. As the old folk rhyme suggests; 

“Trefoil, Vervain, John’s Wort, Dill

Hinders witches of their will.”

The advent of Christianity in Britain and Ireland then led to something of a rebranding, with the three leaves instead being used to represent Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

In medieval times (and then latterly revived in the Victorian period) Clover leaves were often placed in the shoes of husbands to guarantee fidelity, or if a four leaf variety was found, in the shoe of an unmarried woman, guaranteeing she would marry the next man she crossed paths with. I love how fanciful this is, certainly seems more appealing than Tinder.

The humble Clover therefore has a folkloric, spiritual and even holy aura, and has always been believed to repel all darkness. A reminder of a time when magic and myth wasn’t just in books or in films, but was growing beneath our very feet.

This weeks flowers, may not contain a four leaf clover, however they will display some pink and yellow beauty like my picture above. I am also delighted to announce the return of the Peony and will solely be using Smith & Munson peonies this year to guarantee the best of British homegrown peonies.

Have a lovely week and as always, “Bringing the Outdoors In”.