Jade Bonsai
"Commonly known as jade plant, friendship tree, lucky plant or Money Plant, Crassula ovata is a succulent plant with small pink or white flowers. It is native to South Africa, and is common as a houseplant worldwide.
Jades are evergreen plants with thick branches and smooth, rounded,fleshy leaves that grow in opposing pairs along the branches. Leaves area rich jade green; some varieties may develop a red tinge on the edges of leaves when exposed to high levels of sunlight. New stem growth is the same color and texture as the leaves, but becomes brown and woody with age. Under the right conditions, they may produce small white or pink star-like flowers in early spring.
The jade plant lends itself easily to the bonsai form and is popular as an indoor bonsai."
So that's the basics. I will add that in my experience Jade is virtually indestructible, refuses to die even weeks (or months) after having been tossed in the trash. It will grow in any light conditions, in almost any soil, with almost any watering schedule except perpetually soggy soil. It can be carved, chopped to the ground, propagated from a single leaf, and really prefers a degree of neglect.
Jade bonsai plants make great gifts. I gave the tree below to a friend last week...
I would encourage everyone to make jade bonsai and give them away to friends. Later in the week I received an actual card in the mail (real mail, with paper, and a stamp, and an envelope and everything) with a raised tree insignia on the front and the following Eleanor Roosevelt quote printed:
Many thanks to Elliot Farkas for sharing this photo of his very nice portulacaria jade bonsai and for contributing feedback on this posting.
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Tags: jade bonsai indoor tree gift idea easy drought tolerant friend flowering Eleanor Roosevelt
Love the quote...
I remember giving my cousin a pretty good sized jade plant for the office (research lab)..in Minnesota..and that plant survived for years in that enviroment
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Michelle
Its uncanny how the blogs you write are whats on my mind that day or week. i love jade as bonsai. I think if these plants were native to japan, you would see them in the big fancy shows.
I have one that is absolutely beautiful. It really looks like an old oak tree. It has great nebari, wonderful ramification and since this one was growing in a can for at least 25 yrs when I got it, it has really nice rough bark.
When I got it, I just flat cut it at the soil line and let it sit on my bench for 3 days before I planted it to harden off the cut. I waited about 5 days to water it. Once those guys are established you can water them as often as you want(as long as you have well draining soil)or as little.
There are some awesome collections of jade bonsai in Florida. On the cover of Craig Coussins book "Bonsai Master Class" (an awesome book that even more advanced students can learn from)there is a beautiful jade tree bonsai on the cover from a Florida collection.
Whenever a friend or work mate wants a bonsai tree, I try to set them up with a jade tree.
Love your site!!
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