Sorry....it's been a LONG while. I went to Colorado (as did James and Audrey) for part of June and the 4th of July. I shall post pics sometime. As for now, James is away on business, and the few minutes of free time I have will probably not be spent hunting down pictures. But for now, a few random thoughts.
Audrey was a stellar traveller. No crying on the plane rides, which was a huge relief to me. I was never one to complain about children on planes (knowing full well that someday I would be that haggard, tired looking mother), but now I have even more respect and empathy for travelling families.
When I was young, I remember going to bed and hearing night sounds drift up the stairs. Mom finishing in the kitchen, dad rustling a book or a paper, or possibly notes of Anne Murray played in his office. I remember laying there in bed thinking to myself, "they are so quiet!" Well, the other night, I had one of those "oh-my-gosh-I'm-turning-into-my-parents" moments. Don't get me wrong--if I can be like my mom/dad, that'd be wonderful! Anyway, Audrey was in bed, asleep, and James and I were downstairs. I was working on a project I need to get done (yet another reason for rain checking the pics) and James was engrossed in his book. There we were, sitting in nearly complete silence, and it was wonderful. Now I understand why my parents were so quiet,....it's nice.
As I mentioned above, James is away for business. Audrey has been fighting sleep the last few nights, and I'll admit I was a bit worried about being alone for 3 nights with her. So today I did my best to exhaust her. I'm hoping she's asleep....waiting to hear her thumping her legs on her mattress. Sssh! Last weekend James and I started babyproofing, knowing that she'll start crawling soon (at least in theory). We moved some of our wrought iron furniture, and replaced it with a shelving unit from Target. Yay for Target. It's now bolted to the wall, and if Audrey decides to climb and or chew on it, everyone will be safe. So now there's this big, long, flat shelf at about waist height, naked, bare, spartan. Audrey and I headed to our local plant nursery to try and find a plant. If you know me well, you know that my father's green thumb did not get passed down to me. I pretty much kill every plant I get, so much that it has become a joke. But I want to have plants, I really do! So Audrey and I walked in, I found a nice lady working in the indoor plant area, and asked her for a "really easy house plant". She took me to spider plants. Nope, too tall. I explained I kill everything. She pointed out an aloe. Nope, killed that once. She was shocked. Killed an aloe!?!? Yup. She then pointed me to a whole new area. Cacti, and she was totally serious! So we came home with a jade plant. Wish me luck.
15 hours ago
1 comments:
Hey Suz,
This will help you out on your lack of green fingers. Read it, stick to the advice and you can make you Jade plant last. (since it is a lucky plant, you already got the luck so I will not wish you luck....)
A 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. It is sometimes referred to as the money tree; however, the tree Pachira aquatica is also so called.
The jade plant lends itself easily to the bonsai form and is popular as an indoor bonsai.
Care
As succulents, they require a normal watering when the soil is dry in the summer, and very little watering in the winter. Overwatering will cause them to lose their leaves (it is easy to identify overwatering by the characteristic crinkling look that the fallen leaves have) and eventually the stem will rot away. Though jades can survive overwatering, it is best to keep them on a 10 - 20 day cycle in the summer, and even less (up to a month dry) in the winter. Letting the soil dry between waterings is essential for a healthy jade.[1]
They will grow in full sun to light shade. However, they do not tolerate extreme heat or overexposure to direct sun very well, showing damage ranging from scorched leaves to loss of foliage and rotting stems. Most of the common species will tolerate a limited degree of frost but overexposure to cold weather will kill them.
The jade plant benefits from pruning, which should be done in the spring, before the growing season. Pruning a jade can be done over a period of a few weeks, and involves cutting stems back to a lateral branch. The purpose of pruning is twofold: for a top-heavy succulent like the jade, it is important that its trunk be able to support the weight of its leaves and pruning encourages the trunk to grow in size; pruning also encourages root growth. Callouses should form on new cuts after a few days and new growth should emerge from the stump within a few weeks of the cut.
Be careful of using pesticides as Jades are very sensitive to them.
Soil
Jades grow best in well drained soil that does not have peat moss or other particles that will retain large amounts of water. Jade trees enjoy rocky hillsides and arid soil, so in cultivation many different soil mixes are used to mimic these favorable natural conditions. Some growers recommend 50/50 soil mixes of organic topsoil to perlite, haydite, turface, or small gravel and grit. Others have used coir, pine bark and river stones. The general consensus among growers is that the soil should drain quickly and be allowed to dry between waterings, so having a good amount of grit and gravel in the mix is essential.
greetz Mirjam
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