I just looked at all of my designs for St. Patrick's Day and I have 35, 8 of which were clovers and not St. Patrick's designs. Never paid any attention before. Thanks for the public service announcement. ;)

Having a husband that is Irish, I have a fun time telling people that a shamrock is 3 leaves not 4. People comment about my clovers but I am quick to respond NOT clover, shamrocks ! I only buy if it is three leaves as I havn`t learnt yet how to take something out of a design and change it , there are some beautiful designs out there for St Patricks Day ... but they have clovers in them !! :(

Since you are citing facts, I graciously would like to point out an error in your post: shamrocks do not have "three leafs because this is how St. Patrick explained the Trinity." He used shamrocks because they generally have three leaves connected to one stem. St. Patrick did not create the plant--it existed in abundance..

The "Trinity" plants of Ireland are actually clovers and related to the pea family (legume). Four-leaf clovers occur naturally at an estimated rate of 1 per every 10,000 three-leaf clovers. Shamrock sold in stores for St. Patrick's day are Oxalis and unrelated to clovers. So, go ahead and celebrate St. Patrick's Day with your preference of religious traditions or the luck of the Irish!

I'm glad you told us all this. I knew it, but I thought I was the only one who cared about the difference. A friend of mine, who is Irish, always came into my class on St. Patrick's Day and told my students about the history of the day, about how Ireland was, and about the potatoes, about the snakes, and of course about the shamrocks. But, I believe the part about being lucky and irish is still a bit traditional - Like the Lucky Charms cereal and catching a leprechan and a pot of gold.