Anything in your flower garden you do not want there is classified as a weed. It does not matter if the plant has delicate flowers on a healthy mound of green leaves, that it grows everywhere that has moisture, and is very hardy throughout the spring and summer. It especially loves semi-shaded woodlands and fields.
Unfortunately, the lowly Wood Sorrel - commonly called "Wild Clover" in my area - is in that category. Just leave it alone and it will spread over the landscape with green, lush foliage. That's enough to send most gardeners into a weed-pulling frenzy!
To me, the wild clover, which is one of the Oxalis family, is a desirable plant. All parts of it can be eaten, and it was used both as food and a medicine by the Cherokee Indians who lived here before we Europeans moved in.
The wild clover is related to the shamrock; a very close relative that I have trouble telling apart unless I have them side-by-side. The shamrock is valued by gardeners to use in lining or marking edges of plantings. I looks like the unwanted wild clover. The "good" shamrock does not spread and the "bad" shamrock does, and that's enough to make it a weed.
On a hot day, the shamrock folds its leaves down to conserve moisture, making it appear to be shy in the sunshine.
