Jade Plant
is one among many Chinese good luck symbols. The jade plant is actually a symbolic mimicry of the actual jade stone. Jade is considered highly valuable, and therefore very lucky – a material representing great wealth, auspiciousness and fortune and status.
Jade plants are an integral part of modern feng shui designs. Jade plants make a perfect housewarming gift or for a new business or marriage. The easy-to-grow jade comes in a variety of cultivars, including those with strikingly variegated or two-toned leaves and distinctive irregular shapes.
History
Crassula ovata is a succulent, a plant that stores water in its leaves while its stems get woody with age. It may produce tiny pink or white flowers. A member of the orpine family, jade is found world-wide. They grow principally in dry and cold areas of the Northern Hemisphere and southern Africa. Most are green, but there are variegated varieties, meaning they have multi-colored patterns on their leaves.
Jades are known to have a symbiotic relationship with elephants. Elephants get nutrition from feeding on the jade plant and the jade, in turn, benefits from having its branches trimmed.
Horticulture
Crassulas are considered the true jade while portulacaria afra are called Ming jades. There are as many as 1,400 species, some of them so rare they fetch $1,000 a plant and others guarded as family heirlooms and never sold on the open market. Grown in bright, unobstructed sunlight with appropriate watering in cool night temperatures in the low to mid-60s, jades will produce white star flowers with pink blushes.
Good Fortune
The ancient Chinese associated jade with the wealth of emeralds. The round leaves of jade plants resemble coins, giving rise to the name Money Plant. When plants are placed in the southeast corner of the home, the owner’s fortunes are believed to increase with each new leaf.
Jade plants, like the stone, are green and (just like the bloodstone) this color carries symbolism of growth and renewal in the form of wealth in our lives. Money may not grow on trees, but a gemmy jade plant will spark your mind to more lucrative thinking patterns.
Good Luck
Jade plants are primarily green, the color of growth, renewal and spring. Jades bring good luck in the form of wealth, and having them in the home is said to boost mental acuity with the increase in oxygen they release into the home. Leaves that are knocked off a parent plant are lucky if they land on soil because they can grow on their own. They can also be propagated by allowing a stem cutting to dry for a few days and then planting it in soil.
Joy of Friendship
Jades are a perfect present for a friend. If a jade flowers, it is the result of great care given to the plant. Flowering jades reflect well on the owner and symbolize great friendship, luck and prosperity. The green leaves signify energy and the joy of friendship, and the flowers represent the fragrance of great friendship.
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