Crassula Ovata,( Money plant)

Oh, how lovely! We had one of these for a long time and not once did I see a single flower!!

Thank you Chris..It doesn't get any TLC whatsoever, and still rewards me with flowers..Only for approx the last 5 years though,and it is at least 25 years old now..

I was telling an assistant in one of my favourite GC about your Money Plant Sandra and he said he'd not heard of anyone who had got one to flower, in this country. Aren't you clever?

Fabulous - I had no idea they flowered!

Not clever at all,Julia..puzzled maybe ! I must admit to feeling cruel sometimes,that it gets so neglected,and has had a saw taken to it,at least three times,as I can't get it out of it's inner pot otherwise when it's pot bound..It then gets some new compost around the sides and in the bottom.Maybe it's a cry for help''look at me,and see how I am trying to please you '' :o)

Neither did I,Stera,till five years ago ! It's been in flower since Christmas...

Whatever you do seems to work, so don't knock it. I'll send you a PM later.

This is so amazing, we have one similar size, repotted last year!, have tried neglecting it, but still nothing, so well done Sandra...

It has also been trimmed to shape quite a few times Angela,which keeps it from looking leggy.It soon send out new leaves from the joints,or lower down the thick stems...I did read last year, they can be quite old when they start to flower..maybe it's their version of a Beard ! Lol Don't give up on it :o) x

No I shall hang on in there.......one of these days!!

Bloomer:

It looks great! It's rare to see a jade plant indoors here. There's millions that grow on mesas, canyons and everywhere else. They start flowering here in San Diego, December through early March. It can grow 10 to 12' tall here.

Thanks Delonix..if only we could grow them outdoors here,although it does go outside in the 'summer' months,and I use that term loosely :o) I wonder do they have any wildlife or bugs that find them tempting in San Diego? I sometimes get white fly on mine,but a quick power shower with a hosepipe soon shifts them..Lol..

The song "cruel to be kind" has just sprung to my mind Bloomer! ;o)

Bloomer:

I've never seen them attacked by any bugs here. Maybe possibly scale or spider mites during our severe drought years (we're just getting out of a severe, historic 6 year drought in California). We've gotten a lot of rain this season. Yay! :>))

That sounds about right,Petaltracey...Lol..think 'Kebab' when I'm trimming the sides ! oh dear :o)

That's good,Delonix..nice to know something is almost immune from the nasties..glad to hear the drought is coming to an end..Wow,six years ?? and yet I guess some plants etc have started to grow again now you have rain..Nature is awesome :o)

Yes, it's pretty immune from most bugs.

Yes, this 6 year drought was much worse than the last 7 years drought. It was due to the extremely hot temps we've had during winter (some days to almost 100ºF or 38ºC). This put added stress on the trees and plants. There's literally hundreds of millions of trees dying thoughout California due to this horrible drought. It's very sad! Hopefully, with all the rain this season it will stop some trees from dying!

There are many plants, trees flowering and growing with all the rain this year. Some of the trees are typically semi-dormant and they're growing like crazy! My tropical guava tree is one example.

Lovely you have some flowers on your plant. I had one years ago but it never flowered and it died. Good you've had some rain at last Delonix. The world has had some strange weather lately....perhaps there are too many people using up the earth's resources, and so it's changing the weather patterns.

Lindak:

Yes, it's so nice to finally get rain. After all these years of severe, historical drought and very high temps, it's finally getting back to normal (although, temps are still higher than normal). By the end of this week we may get some 90ºF (32ºC) weather here. The last few days have been around 80ºF (27ºC).

Yes, I have to admit it's looking like man is involved or the cause of the weather-pattern changes.

Homebird:

Jade plants must have a lot of sun to develop flowers. That's amazing, that you've only had two flowers in 30 years! A 30 year old jade plant here (in San Diego, CA) would be 12' (3.7 m) tall with many hundreds of thousands of flowers on it during winter.

I've never let mine grow tall,Sheila,so I would say it's been treated as more of a Bonsai? although I hadn't thought of it as such ,when I've kept trimming it,and taking some of the girth,and depth..poor thing :o)

My goodness,Sheila,that's a fair size! My Conservatory gets full sun till mid afternoon..East and South,then it moves over the Bungalow ..like you,I do stand it outside in summer,unless it comes really chilly,and I bring it back in,as I see the tips turning red otherwise..Looking foward to seeing your photo :o)

Homebird:

Jade plants tolerate the very hot temps we experience here in inland San Diego, CA. I've never seen a jade plant burn here, even in 110ºF (43ºC) weather in full sun.