along the country road #6
How are the giant statue of a Canada goose at WAWA, Ontario, and the roadside plant White Clover associated? Read on…
the giant statue of a Canada goose at Wawa, Ontario
White Clover is a common perennial herb of fields, lawns and roadsides. The plant is also called White Clover or, in French, trèfle blanc. Flowers are borne in globular heads, pure white or tinged with pink. The name Trifolium is from tres meaning three and folium meaning leaf. Repens means creeping, a reference to the long, prostrate stems.
The leaves of clover are in threes, palmately compound, and are occasionally found in fours. According to superstition, finding a four-leaved clover gives good luck to the finder. In the 1960’s, my Dad found a five-leaved clover in the grassy field in front of the giant statue of the Canada goose at WAWA, Ontario.
the five-leaved clover my Dad found on the lawn in front of the Canada goose at Wawa almost 45 years ago
Dad pressed the leaves and covered them in a laminating film. The pressed plant is still among my treasures.
the reverse side of the specimen of five-leaved clover, with my Dad’s printing
We returned in 2002 and searched, but the three-leaved variety was all we found.
we searched in 2002, but I think the lawn had been replaced
Clover is a useful plant. It ‘fixes nitrogen’, meaning it takes nitrogen from the atmosphere and introduces it into the soil as it grows. The flowers are a source of honey for bees, and I’ve tasted honey made from an infusion of clover flowers. Dried leaves can be used for making tea.
Have you ever found a clover leaf with more than three leaflets? Did it bring you luck?
White Clover
Trifolium repens L.
(Three Leaves and Wishes)
~
only to lie
sweet dreaming in the clover
to pull blossoms
from long stems
toss soft snowballs
at blue-bottle flies
~
bees to visit me
florets for nectar
hair splashed on the clover
scented sweet honey
~
to search three leaves for four
creeping across the lawn
to the roadside
to roll in the fields
of white clover
trèfle blanc
blushing
~
Warning: 1. never eat any plant if you are not absolutely certain of the identification; 2. never eat any plant if you have personal sensitivities, including allergies, to certain plants or their derivatives; 3. never eat any plant unless you have checked several sources to verify the edibility of the plant.
© Jane Tims 2005
nichepoetryandprose 
What a wonderful way to honor your dad, and how special for you to have the pressed plant from him.
Seeing my parents’ handwriting–a letter or in a book–brings back more memories than photos.
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Ellen Grace Olinger
September 19, 2011 at 5:36 pm
Hi Ellen. I have a lot of family things, and I am lucky that my Mom and Dad both left me lots of examples of their writing. Handwriting carries so much of a person’s personality. My Mom wrote me letters for years and I can go back to them to see her thoughts at any time. Jane
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jane tims
September 19, 2011 at 10:59 pm
The first photograph grabbed my attention- what a captivating article 🙂
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Watching Seasons
September 5, 2011 at 3:04 pm
Thanks, I’m glad you liked it! Jane
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jane tims
September 5, 2011 at 8:26 pm
Excellent poem Jane. Poignant and lyrical .. to me that is. Interesting how you have that 5 leaf clover from your Dad after all these years. The only thing I have from my father is his hair brush, proudly displayed on a stack of towels in the downstairs bathroom.
~Denis
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JD
September 3, 2011 at 8:20 pm
I have always kept the 5-leafed clover because I remember so well the day Dad found it and how proud he was. Jane
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jane tims
September 4, 2011 at 7:55 am