Give Four-Leaf Lucky Oxalis for New Year Good Luck / 🇩🇪 Germany

The little pot of Glücksklee is a familiar New Year gift in Germany. Look closely at one stem and you can see four leaflets spread out like a small fan. Many of the leaves have a dark patch near the centre that makes their shape especially clear. Give the plant to someone you hope to see flourish in the coming months. The wish is easy to express even if you have never grown anything together: the plant is already there, with fresh leaves to look at. It is also a small gift that can stay with the household long after the New Year greeting.

1. Choose a potted lucky oxalis with four leaflets. The plant may be labelled Oxalis tetraphylla or Oxalis deppeii.
2. If you want to dress up the pot, fold paper around its outer container so you can take it off when the plant needs water. Keep the leaves uncovered.
3. Give the pot at the turn of the year. Point out a four-part leaf and name something good you wish for the person or household.
4. When you receive one, set it in a bright place and follow the care instructions for watering. If you are starting from bulbs, grow the plant ahead of the gift day so there are leaves to share.

Glücksklee combines the German words for luck and clover, but this gift plant is a kind of oxalis. Its four leaflets are a regular feature. A wild clover with four leaflets is a discovery, while a greenhouse full of lucky oxalis can produce many four-part leaves in time for the holidays. German growers raise the plants from bulbs and have pots ready for the weeks around the turn of the year. A small pot often makes a compact host gift. Once the wrapping is off, you can still see the same detail that caught your eye when it was handed over: four small leaflets on a stem.