Jade: friendship and fortune

Since moving to southern California and seeing jade plants everywhere I've become enamored with it.

The jade you see here on my patio balcony is an old plant, given to me by someone cleaning out his late great aunt's Malibu hills home as the family prepared it for sale. Aunt so-and-so was an avid gardener and had many potted plants in her backyard along with those planted in the earth. I decided to give it a home, and it seems happy in the afternoon sun. Jade is easy to over water which rots the roots, so I just let it be for the most part. It requires little care. If leaves start falling I move my plants into the sun for a few weeks. If the leaves become soft and squishy that is a sign they might need some water; the water soaks into the leaves because it is a succulent.

The amazing thing about jade is that you can easily grow a plant from a chunk taken from a larger jade tree or bush. I've done this with several jade clippings, one of which you'll see one in the photo below next to the Peruvian wall hanging. It was grown from a small clipping from a large jade bush that was the landscape design around the outdoor steps to a previous apartment of mine in Manhattan Beach, CA. The jade bush blossomed with small white flowers, and the gardeners often trimmed it back after the flowers fell. I salvaged several chunks of the stem with succulent leaves, suspended them in water for a few weeks until they had small roots growing and then potted them. This one has survived a few years and has grown taller. A few of the branches have died, fell off or had to be removed, but overall the small plant is strong.

Symbolism
Because the jade is so easy to grow and pass along pieces for others to grow, it is seen as a symbol of sharing and friendship. You can plant the leaves or a stem directly in dirt as I have done and it will likely take hold and grow strong. Jade is also thought to bring good luck and fortune, especially in business - so put the jade next to your cash register and see if your sales increase.