Common name: Ken Aslet crassula
Latin name: Crassula sarcocaulis ‘Ken Aslet’
Plant size: 20″ high x 20″ wide
Plant type: Shrubs and small trees
USDA Hardiness Zones: 9-10
Cultural needs: Sandy soil, sun or part shade
Native to South Africa, this close relative of the jade plant makes a showy trackside tree, especially when it is covered with tiny pink blooms, which fade to white during the summer. If left untrained, it will become a shrubby mound of color, which isn’t bad, but you’ll be missing the smooth, brick-red bark. KenmAslet crassula’s branches tend to weep, so prune those off and leave the upright ones, particularly in the front to display the branching. Soon after the flowers turn brown, give the tree a crew cut of sorts to remove spent blooms and keep the tree a manageable size. You will be rewarded. Although it’s able to withstand some frost, Ken Aslet can also be easily kept as a houseplant during the winter in colder climates. This is one tree, like its cousin, jade, that will survive the winter indoors given some light andmsoil on the dry side. As a succulent, it needs proper drainage. Each year the trunk will expand its girth, and
age like a good bonsai should. It really likes to multiply. You’ll find fallen baby branches rooting next to its parent. Look in your nursery’s bonsai section for specimens with strong trunks.
