"Joe" wrote in message
. ..

I found out what my plant is called thanks to David, it's a crassula
ovata
aka money tree).

This plant is called a "tree that turns into money" in Japan, apparently
because the shapes of the leaves look like an old Japanese coin. I suppose
the name was translated into English "money tree".

Here in Japan they sell special potting mixtures for it. I don't know about
Britain. The stuff just looks like vermiculite to me.

Personally, I have several pots of Crassula Ovata. They are easy to
grow and appear to tolerate most soils and temperatures, except frost.
I find that I need to water them all year round. However, mine have
never flowered!

Mine flowered this winter. Apparently the trick is not to water them! Having
said that, my father in Britain has a giant one, which is really ugly, he
says he has never watered it, but anyway it never flowers, just keeps
getting bigger and bigger and more and more ugly I think. According to my
gardening magazine, there are a lot of varieties of the plant, some of which
are much better at flowering than others.

Mine was out in the garden during the summer, but I didn't do anything to
it. It got a little damaged by the cold weather and all the old leaves fell
off it, which strangely made it look much nicer.

In article , Gyve Turquoise
writes

"Joe" wrote in message
...

I found out what my plant is called thanks to David, it's a crassula
ovata
aka money tree).

This plant is called a "tree that turns into money" in Japan, apparently
because the shapes of the leaves look like an old Japanese coin. I suppose
the name was translated into English "money tree".

Is it because of the shape of the green leaves, or is it the way the
dead leaves have a shiny, almost metallic, look?


Mine flowered this winter. Apparently the trick is not to water them! Having
said that, my father in Britain has a giant one, which is really ugly, he
says he has never watered it, but anyway it never flowers, just keeps
getting bigger and bigger and more and more ugly I think.

It might need water after a period of drought - this is the trigger for
some other plants. Just a guess. Two of mine flower, two don't - they're
all the same plant which fell apart after a cold damp winter about 8
years back.


--
Kay Easton

Edward's earthworm page:
http://www.scarboro.demon.co.uk/edward/index.htm

"Kay Easton" wrote in message
...
In article , Gyve Turquoise
writes

Is it because of the shape of the green leaves, or is it the way the
dead leaves have a shiny, almost metallic, look?

The thing I read from the "Royal Home Center" seems to have been a fairy
story or something. I can't find any confirmation of it, and I found a whole
lot of different stories about the tree instead.