Looking at Mary's and then Rina's jades, the only one that looks any way different to me is Hummel's Ghost. As we see with Rina's variegated jades, which all are cuttings from the same original plant, it is clear that most other variegated jades are basically just that, variegated Crassula ovata - even Tricolor can have some leaves more ovate than others; on all variegated jades, some leaves will be more oblique, some more ovate, and all types of leaves can appear on all variegated jades; hence I conclude they are basically all the same. Because I know that Hummel's Ghost is said to have been a sport on Hummel's Sunset, I do hold that as different. All are beautiful, anyway, when not blighted by those brown marks some clones carry. There are other jades which are obviously distinct cultivars, including Maruba Nishiki, Denethor, Solana, When you look at them and then look again at the various variegated jades, you can see the Tricolor, Akai etc. are too alike to be separate named varieties.

Stan, I think the summers are just too wet . . . and it's always humid. Mine grow quite well in the winter, but I really have to watch to get them through the summers. I've had mine jettison a limb when they get too full of water and too hot. Maybe an attentive grower who prunes regularly can make it work, but I haven't seen any really big jades PIG. I think our sandy soil works against us, too. It seems to work its way into gritty mix I've used on a raised island. I'm giving it a shot in pots, but I think I am decades away from having a beauty like I see in California! It's good to have a goal. LOL

Is the leaf reverse purple? Looks like Plectranthus ciliatus.

You're welcome, glad to help. ....... when growing a very young jade, when would you first pinch the jade in order to have it branch out? It depends on what vision you have for the plant, and to some degree whether or not you're familiar enough with the plant's obligated response to pruning, to pinch and prune to achieve the vision you have for the plant. An example of your vision governing how you pinch and prune can be seen in the fact that if you want to induce/ create a trunk that tapers, your pruning and pinching process would be much different than if you simply want to create something that has a somewhat natural shape or topiary, and trunk taper isn't a factor. Let's assume we're talking about a novice grower who wants to have a healthy jade or portulacaria that looks like a tree shape or a topiary shape sort of like a lollipop. If you want a straight trunk, you would allow your cutting or new start to grow in ht to about 2/3 of the ht you want the plant to be. So, if you want to have a 3' tall plant (from soil line) you would pinch the trunk approximately 2' above the soil. That will give you 1 ft of ht to develop the canopy by annual pruning in June and summer pinching. If you want a sinuous trunk, one with plenty of movement instead of being stick straight. You would start pinching very early on in the plant's development. When you pinch a branch or stem, it changes the direction of the branch/stem grows. You can use this to control what direction the trunk takes after the pinch. The growth habit of jades and and portulacaria will be leaves growing in opposite pairs and 90* alternate on the branch. If you pinch a jade or portulacaria in June and your plant is reasonably healthy, you can almost always expect a pair of new branches at the 2 nodes below the pinch. This means the plant will produce a branch growing left, right, forward and backward - like N, S, E, W. Any one of those 4 branches can be chosen as the new leader. The branches not chosen to be the leader can be removed, or left to grow as 'sacrifice branches' which will help thicken the trunk, only to be removed at a later date. At this point in development of the plant below, it has been grown only to establish a trunk line with taper. Almost none of the branches will be used in the final composition. Below, the trunkline has been revealed by hard pruning, The stub on the right will become the first/ lowest branch. The meager growth in 2 places at the end of the stub will be a bifurcation of the branch into a 'Y' shape. The near horizontal stub (with wire) on the left will be the second branch and the near vertical part (with wire) is the new leader. I might allow this plant to grow for a full year or more before I prune it again, which will allow the plant to recover from the extremely hard pruning. Would one let the first stem grow to a certain height before pinching and then do what you mentioned above? I'm not sure I understand this question. Pinching removes the apical meristem at the end of the branch, which forever eliminates the branch's ability to extend/lengthen; and, it also forces new branches to form behind the pinch. Pinching is used as a tool to keep your plants full and compact, to change direction of a branch or stem when you don't want to mechanically change the branch's position through use of wire, twine, braces, etc., and to provide multiple pruning opportunities to choose from based on how well they compliment the composition, or don't. Pinching also conserves the plant's energy If a branch is extending and you pinch it at the tip, you are removing only a tiny bit of growth; whereas, if you allow a branch to get very long then prune it back hard, the energy to produce that branch has been wasted, except in cases where the branch was being used as a sacrifice branch to help thicken/strengthen the trunk or build taper in the trunk. Al