Yoshiharu Watanabe from Japan might be the luckiest man alive — or at least the luckiest gardener.
Watanabe has successfully grown a clover with not just four or even five leaves but 65, breaking the previous Guinness World Record.
Watanabe's journey began in 2009 when he started collecting clovers with more than three leaves and planting them in his home garden. By cross-pollinating these clovers, he managed to cultivate specimens with up to 20 leaves.
This sparked his dream of setting a world record.
“Clover is a common plant found everywhere, so whenever I saw a four-leaved, five-leaved, or seven-leaved clover near paddy fields or parks, I took it back home,” Watanabe told Guinness Records.
“Since the number of leaves has increased year by year, I have been aiming for the Guinness World Records title ever since.”
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Breaking the Previous Record
The previous record was set by another Japanese native, Shigeo Obara, in 2009, when he discovered a 56-leaf clover.
By 2020, Watanabe's efforts had resulted in a 49-leaf clover, and in 2021, he nearly tied the record with a 55-leaf clover.
“Sometimes the number of leaves can go down, or sometimes you end up with the normal three-leaf clover,” Watanabe explained. “We know that genetics are involved in a higher number of leaves, yet we don’t exactly know how it works.”
Just as Watanabe was about to give up, he achieved the extraordinary — he managed to grow a clover with 63 individual leaves, setting a new Guinness World Record.
“Because the leaves are smaller than the standard clover that you know and love, it’s hard to count the number of leaves. When I counted this record-breaking clover, it took me over an hour,” Watanabe explained.
