Walking on Wednesday - My Money Tree is Dead! What does that MEAN??
It's not the kind of money tree you are thinking.
The name supposedly comes from a story of it's origin.
A poor man prayed for money, and then found this "odd" plant. He took it home as an omen, and made money from selling plants grown from it's seeds.
I bought it at a grocery store when we first moved back to the states, in 2004. We had just moved in to our own house, after being displaced from Hurricane Ivan, and our new place needed some green. This was the biggest plant, for the least amount of money, at the grocery store.
It said it was 'foolproof', and that is the right plant for me! I thought the name was an omen too, hoping it would bring good fortune, meaning a little money.
It decorated our living room in New York for almost 6 years! During that time, about 2 years after I bought it, I tried to root it from clippings just for fun. It worked, and I grew another money tree from this one. Funny enough, I did manage to sell that one, at our garage sale when we sold our house to search for more opportunities here in the mountains.
The original plant survived the move here, and settled into the dining room as we settled into our rented house here. After a full year here, starting about 2 weeks ago, it started looking rather limp. The leaves were turning brown and falling off. The soil was not dry, and for fear of over watering I left it. The days went by, and it looked worse each day. As last week was a rough one for me, I really did not have the energy to think about how to save this one.
Saturday morning I took it outside and noticed it looked like the roots had definitely seen better days. One of them was pretty well rotted and the others were well on their way.
I have decided to let this one go. Give it a proper "burial" by throwing it somewhere down the side of the hill, where we throw limbs and such from the yard. It is time for a new money tree.
In fact, Pachira are symbolically associated with good financial fortune in East Asain Culture, and often seen in businesses with red ribbons and other auspicious ornamentation attached. (I have those, as you can see in the picture of the limped and dying tree. Nice and red, and even some {fake}jade. Obtained from a Chinese restaurant...they are authentically good Feng Shiu, right??)
Time to start fresh! Right? Sure! Why not? Hubby thinks I am nuts, and I am putting too much weight and hope in this silly plant. But there he goes again, he is the Yin, and I am the Yang.
I find inspiration in the signs of nature. I attribute much in the timing of things beyond our control. I say, time to put the old stress behind, and forge ahead and concentrate on the way we are going to succeed here. And I even think I can root the 3 leaves that hadn't quite died and grow another money tree....
Goodbye old money tree, hello new ones!
So my questions for you today:
Are you the YIN or are you the YANG?
Do you put symbolic importance on signs of nature?
Ha, you are funny. That was a good one. Some plants are so particular, get a good book that can guide you through their changes.
ReplyDeleteI am more Yin, am an earth sign (Taurus) and feel that I am in tune with nature. Gardening, camping, & learning about our environment is part of who I am, and I tend to notice changes and signs in nature as cues to behavior in others.
The death of the first money plant can be seen as the cycle of things in life and the phrase "spend some to make some", which you literally did. The first one gave what it could and you were smart to replant offshoots, getting multiple use from your initial investment.
Your husband my think you are crazy, but I'm sure he sees the benefits of your madness :)
Sounds like a plant for me. I can kill anything. I learned about a new plant today, thank you. Your plant seems to be very financial in nature. It prospered well for a time, and then went down. But it planted a lot of seedlings for the future. How's that for deep?!?
ReplyDeleteI'm single, so I don't know if I'm the yin or yang, but do believe it that type of spiritual thinking.
I do put faith in signs from nature or any signs. Have to keep you mind and heart open.
ReplyDeleteMy dad had a bamboo plant that he'd had since my mom was alive. About a year before he died I watched it start to fade. I kind of made a link between that plant and my dad. We did all in our power to save it. But in the end it died, and he followed not long after.
Unfortunately, I have had a brown thumb all my adult life, despite growing things as a child.
ReplyDeleteSo, if I assigned too much meaning to that my life would be hopeless...
Right now I live where there is no greenery and it's terrible. It makes me look for the tiny things in life though that make it worth living.
I am the Yin searching for my Yang.
Great post, I never knew there was a money tree.