Plant Rescue, A Story in Two Parts

(12/13/2010) Part I:  This is a potted jade tree plant which now resides in the northeast corner of our very airy dining room.  The pot which is its home measures 14" x 14" and the plant itself -- measured from the top rim of the pot -- is about 29" tall.  Now the first part of this plant story is that it wasn't originally mine.  One year, Glenn and I visited Meg in her apartment while she attended Michigan Tech.  The tree, then housed in a coffee mug, appeared to be about 6" tall and sickly.  Meg confessed being on the verge of tossing it out since she'd forgotten it on her windowsill.  In Houghton.  In the winter.  Sigh.

I'm a sucker for house plants in that it's difficult for me send one to its demise if it shows the least bit of life.  So, I took the jade back to Reese, nurtured it, cared for it. . . and now, here it is.  It's 'offspring' is now ensconced in the Jurgen house and measures about 24" tall and growing like gangbusters!



(12/13/2010)  Part II:  Frankly, I never knew that jade trees will sometimes blossom!  Shortly before my trip to the midwest in late November, I noticed a few buds on my plant.  Subsequent investigaton online revealed that jade trees will sometimes bloom "near the shortest day of the year" IF left unwatered for approximately a month.  During the time Glenn was in MI, I do confess this jade was overlooked and, therefore, underwatered for several weeks.  But this time, rather than becoming sickly, it has graciously produced the blossoms shown in this photo.