Trifolium repens Sweet Mike

Trifolium repens 'Sweet Mike' is a variety of ornamental clover with foliage that features a geometric and artistic pattern. Its rounded leaflets have a black diamond-shaped heart with a feathery red pattern on a green background. This carefree, hardy and easy to grow perennial forms a decorative ground cover, ideal in borders or pots. Its colours will be more intense in the sun. The plant briefly flowers in summer with ovoid white-green spikes. Just be careful not to plant it with plants with delicate roots, as it can be a bit suffocating.

Clovers belong to the large family of legumes. The Trifolium genus includes nearly 200 species found on all continents, except for Australia. T. repens is native and widespread throughout Europe, as well as in North America, except for boreal zones. This perennial adapts to all types of soils, including limestone and clay. The 'Sweet Mike' variety has vibrant and contrasting colours, in a trio of grass green, black, and red. The plant forms a very dense and spreading clump, 10 to 20 cm (4 to 8in) tall, expanding over time through creeping stems that root at the nodes. The quite discreet flowering, takes place in June-July. The pleasantly fragrant small flowers, about 1 cm (0in) long, white-green or sometimes pinkish, are upright and gathered in initially globular, then oval heads at the tips of floral stems just above the foliage. The more or less evergreen foliage is composed of leaves divided into 4 entire, rounded leaflets with dentate margins, red, black and green. The fruit pod contains seeds that easily self-sow in light soil.

Trifolium repens 'Sweet Mike' can be used as a ground cover in pots, with annuals or taller perennials, for example with the colourful foliage of morning glories or spiderworts. In the garden, it is very useful as a ground cover to limit maintenance, as it grows on its own and only requires rainwater. It can also advantageously replace lawns in lightly trafficked areas. Water regularly when grown in pots. Its natural charm works well in borders and rustic flower beds, with perennials with red, green, and purple flowers. Do not grow it with less vigorous perennials, such as alpine perennials, as it will dominate them.