Jade plant is a gem in the garden

I enjoyed your article about “The Other Christmas Tree” [Dec. 1] and agree with you about the convenience and beauty of the jade plant. Because it blooms around Christmas, each year I insert stems with blooms into a grapevine form to create a long-lasting front-door wreath.

For years I pruned a long jade plant hedge by hand; then I discovered that a machete makes short work of the task and gets better results. The shrub recovers its natural appearance in a matter of weeks.

VAN WRIGHT

Costa Mesa

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JUST read your article on jade plants and must disagree with you on jade reproduction.

I have approximately 14 jade plants in my backyard and frontyard, and only one or two I actually planted. The rest just popped up as volunteers, and every now and again I find another starting to grow.

MARJORIE BUELL

Malibu

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MY wife and I relocated from Wisconsin to Los Angeles nearly 10 years ago. I’ve always been a gardener, and upon getting adjusted to the horticulture of Southern California, I was overwhelmed by the jades.

You’re so very right: Jades are a treasured house plant elsewhere, and I had a few in my Milwaukee home. They were prized. For special friends, I would very carefully root a cutting and offer a potted jade as a gift. Recipients were always pleased. Imagine, living here and seeing jades everywhere. And in bloom! I couldn’t believe it.

During a visit to Cambria, we came upon a pile of jade clippings from a newly trimmed hedge along Highway 101. We had stopped at an overlook by the ocean, but once we discovered the jade pile nearby, we spent the next 15 minutes salvaging them.

Back home in Los Feliz, I planted them everywhere. You know the next part of this story: We have jades of incredible size and dimension all over our lot, and I can’t bring myself to remove them. My Wisconsin value system remains in place: Jades are precious. I trim them, but I plant the cuttings wherever there’s space.

JIM SCHUPP

Los Angeles