Last year my old and big Crassula Ovata surprised me with a bouquet of flowers. I don't know what triggered this profuse blooming, but this year I didn't get a single flower for a change. You can check my bragging post here.
This year though I got another Crassula blooming instead. Though they do not look alike, and this one is much smaller, the flowers are very similar.
A cloud of tiny, white little starts with some blush pink on the outside. They do not have any fragrance and I can't remember how long they last. The just look so delicate among all the green plants on the balcony.
Used as a groundcover, the plant is resistant to droughts and low temperatures above −3 °C. It also resists the lack of light and is a shade lover, but that can negatively affects its color or the quality of the flowers. Self-seeding, it can also be multiplied by cuttings. They also propagate themselves by producing plantlets on the flower head that fall off and grow into independent plants. Due to its small size, it can be grown in pots in well-composted, clay soils.
Native of South Africa.
source
It hardly gets so cold here, but the drought part is a good thing. The summers here are nasty and I do sometimes forget to water on time ;).
The cuttings I had last year grew roots pretty fast and I along the stem new plantlets fors. The long stems often touch the ground (that's how I saw the mother plant growing) and will start to grow roots from there. It can get messy that way, but the way it grows for me in a pot it will not have a chance to do that.
There is still some buds to open.
It is not a very big plant just yet. Though it did grow a bit considering that I only had two cuttings last year. I am hoping it will grow more and start to bush a bit after it is done with the blooming. I might trim it later on to encourage branching. We will see.
We tend to call Crassula Ovata a Money Tree probably because of he thick leaves. The name woudl fit this one so much better though. The leaves are round and have the surface full of little dimples like some metal ornaments that were hammered by someone. I hope you know what I mean. I don't know how it is called, it is usually copper I think.
Almost forgot...
A little trespasser that feels so good in the pots. I allowed it to grow in one or two last year and now I see it popping all over the place. It does have cute, little yellow flowers, but damn it is invasive little shit :D
You will see it again in a few more upcoming posts :)
And it's name is Oxalis aka I_will_grow_wherever_I_want_and_you_cannot_stop_me plant.
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Shot with Nikon D5500 + Sigma 105mm lens
All photos, graphics and text are my own.
No AI was used to write this text :p
