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bushes that look like bonsai trees

bushes that look like bonsai trees Buy "Shaving Brush Tree - Pseudobombax ellipticum"

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Description

bushes that look like bonsai trees Buy "Shaving Brush Tree - Pseudobombax ellipticum"Introducing the shaving brush tree, which is known as Pseudobombax ellipticum; and it belongs to the Malvaceae tree family. It has several other common names, such as Amapolla tree and Bombax ellipticum. The Pseudobombax ellipticum has a caudiciform growth habit, which means it has a swollen stem or caudex at its base. The ellipticum means "elliptical", referring to the shape of the leaflets. Native to dry and rocky locations of Southern Mexico,

Introducing the shaving brush tree, which is known as Pseudobombax ellipticum; and it belongs to the Malvaceae tree family. It has several other common names, such as Amapolla tree and Bombax ellipticum. 

The Pseudobombax ellipticum has a caudiciform growth habit, which means it has a swollen stem or caudex at its base. The ellipticum means "elliptical", referring to the shape of the leaflets. 

Native to dry and rocky locations of Southern Mexico, Central America, and parts of South Florida, it's a deciduous tree, which means it sheds its leaves seasonally. During the winter dry season, it can lose its leaves, but the leaves emerge back when the rainy season arrives. 

The shaving brush tree can reach impressive heights of up to 60 feet tall as mature trees in the wild but can be much shorter, about 40 feet tall in cultivation. This Bombax ellipticum has a characteristic gray-green trunk that can grow up to 4 feet wide at the base and stores water during dry summer spells. Its trunk is usually stout and covered in thorny spines, which act as a defense mechanism against herbivores.

The flowers of the Pseudobombax ellipticum are large and fluffy and resemble a shaving brush, hence the name shave brush tree. During the late winter and spring, while the trees are bare, these fragrant flowers bloom on the blunt twig in a variety of colors, including red, pink, and white flowers. In addition to enhancing the tree's allure, the flowers attract pollinators like bees and butterflies. generally begins to bloom when it reaches a mature size, typically starting around 8-10 years of age, though some may bloom earlier or later depending on growing conditions.  

The leaves of the Bombax ellipticum are palmate, meaning they are divided into multiple leaflets that radiate from a central point, giving them a unique appearance.  

Apart from its aesthetic appeal, the shaving brush tree also has cultural significance. In some regions, its wood is used for construction and making furniture. Additionally, the tree has traditional medicinal uses, with various parts being used to treat ailments such as coughs and skin conditions. 

Additionally, the Pseudobombax ellipticum is considered mildly toxic for humans or pets. It's always a good idea to keep your Bombax ellipticum out of reach of curious pets or children, just to be safe. 

Watering Needs

When it comes to Pseudobombax ellipticum care for your shaving brush tree, it's important to provide it with adequate water, especially during its growing season. As a tropical tree, Pseudobombax ellipticum needs plenty of water to grow. 

During the dry season, when the shaving brush tree may lose its leaves, it's important to water it regularly to prevent dehydration. Make sure to water deeply so that the water reaches the root zone. This helps the tree absorb the moisture it needs to stay healthy. However, it's also important not to overwater your Pseudobombax ellipticum shaving brush tree, as excessive moisture can lead to root rot or other issues.  

Every time you water the soil, let it dry out a little. By inserting your finger about an inch deep into the soil, you may determine the moisture content. If the soil feels dry, it's time to water. Remember, the exact watering needs can vary depending on factors like climate, soil type, and the size of the tree. Observing the tree's response to watering and adjusting accordingly is always a good practice. 

Light Requirements 

If you are growing your Pseudobombax ellipticum shaving brush trees indoors, it's important to provide it with bright, indirect light. Place it near a window where it can receive ample sunlight, but make sure to protect it from direct, harsh sunlight that can scorch its leaves. If the shaving brush tree isn't getting enough light when grown indoors, you can supplement it with artificial grow lights to ensure it gets the necessary light intensity. 

For outdoor growing, the Shaving brush tree needs full sun to light shade. Pseudobombax ellipticum prefers bright, direct sunlight for a significant portion of the day. Find a spot in your garden or yard that receives at least 6 hours of sunlight, preferably in the morning or late afternoon when the sun is not as intense. This will help the tree grow and flower to its full potential.

Remember, the shaving brush tree is native to tropical regions, so it loves warmth and sunlight. If you're growing it indoors, try to mimic its natural habitat as closely as possible. When growing it outdoors, make sure to consider the specific light conditions in your area to provide the optimal environment for the tree. 

Optimal Soil & Fertilizer Needs 

When it comes to soil, the Pseudobombax ellipticum succulent needs well-drained soil to germinate properly. A mix of loam, sand, and peat moss can create an ideal growing medium. This type of soil allows for proper water drainage while retaining enough moisture for the tree's roots. Instead, make or buy a well-draining potting mix, or ideally use our specialized succulent potting mix that contains 5 natural substrates and mycorrhizae to promote the development of a strong root system that helps your Pseudobombax ellipticum succulent to thrive.

In terms of fertilizer, the shaving brush tree Pseudobombax ellipticum benefits from regular feeding during its active growing season. You can use a balanced (5-10-5), water-soluble NPK fertilizer specifically formulated for tropical plants. Follow the instructions for the correct dosage and frequency. 

During the growing and flowering season, which typically occurs in spring, you can fertilize the shaving brush tree once a year. However, it's important not to over-fertilize, as this can lead to excessive foliage growth at the expense of flower production.

Remember to always water the tree before applying fertilizer to prevent root burn. Additionally, during the tree's dormant period in fall and winter, you can reduce or stop fertilization altogether. By providing the right soil conditions and regular, appropriate fertilization, you can help the shaving brush tree thrive and produce beautiful blooms. 

Hardiness Zones & More 

When it comes to indoor temperature, the shaving brush tree thrives in average room temperatures ranging from 65°F to 75°F. It can tolerate slightly cooler temperatures down to 55°F, but it's best to avoid exposing it to extreme temperature fluctuations or drafts. Maintaining a consistent temperature within this range will help the tree grow and flourish. 

If you are growing it outdoors; the shaving brush tree is typically suited for USDA zones 9 to 11. These zones are characterized by mild to warm climates, with a frost tolerance of 19.4° F for short periods. If you live in a region with colder winters, you may need to grow the shaving brush tree as a container plant that can be brought indoors during the colder months.

In terms of humidity, the shaving brush tree appreciates moderate to high humidity levels. Aim for a humidity range of 50% to 60% for optimal growth. You can increase humidity levels by placing the tree's pot on a tray filled with water and pebbles or by using a humidifier in the room where it is located. 

Additionally, this Pseudobombax ellipticum variety can be propagated by seeds and cutting. Plant the cutting in a well-draining potting mix, ensuring at least one set of leaves is above the soil surface.  

The Bottom Line  

Overall, the Pseudobombax ellipticum shaving brush tree is a tropical succulent tree that can add a touch of exotic beauty to your indoor or outdoor space. It features unique characteristics such as its striking red or pink flowers that resemble shaving brushes, hence its name. Shaving brush trees are caudex-forming plants, and they can be grown in the form of bonsai. The shaving brush tree prefers bright, indirect light and well-draining soil. It thrives in average room temperatures and appreciates moderate to high humidity levels. Regular watering and occasional fertilization during the growing season can help keep it healthy and vibrant.

Whether you choose to grow it indoors as a houseplant or outdoors in a suitable climate, the Pseudobombax ellipticum shaving brush tree can be a stunning addition to your plant collection. These succulents will surely make your balcony pleasing. Get these stunning Pseudobombax ellipticum for sale here at Planet Desert. 

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p.j. lazos
West Palm Beach, US
★★★★★ 5
Bird by Bird is a delight for readers and writers alike
Format: Paperback
I’m on this rereading kick and also on a reading-books-about-writing kick and Bird by Bird, Some Instructions on Writing and Life, by Anne Lamott, heads the list. Part writing guide, part life coaching session, and part true confessions, Bird by Bird is a delight for readers and writers alike. One summer, Lamott’s ten year-old brother had waited three months to begin a project on birds that was due the next day. Close to tears and unable to even move, he sat among his books and papers at the kitchen table. Lamott’s father, a writer and maybe Lamott’s favorite person ever, put an arm around his son and said, “Bird by bird, buddy. Just take it bird by bird.” The book is peppered with such sage advice while Lamott remains the quintessential social commenter and odd man out, full of more than a few stories of her life gone wrong. What makes her writing so enjoyable is the rough terrain she’s crossed to bring it to us through glimpses of her childhood and the rest of her life. Lamott shares some of her writing techniques such as sitting at her desk and staring at a small one-inch empty picture frame when she’s out of ideas. She watches that picture frame until something comes to her. Sometimes she gets up to make a phone call or eat a snack while the picture frame sits there as a reminder, but she always goes back to her chair and that picture frame. To be a writer, she tells her students, you have to sit your butt in a chair and not get up until you’ve written something no matter how long it takes or how terrible it is, and then you have to do that again the next day and the one after that. You may write four or five pages before you get one or two good paragraphs, she says, but keep at it. She encourages her students to reveal their most desperate fears and phobias and bring them to the surface for dissection and reassembly as literary gold. Unfortunately for Lamott, her worst moments have become her best prose. Take the most horrible school lunch ever and turn it into a brilliant comedic twist of events. Never miss and opportunity to go for your own jugular, but just flash the knife, don’t really cut your throat. In Lamott’s world, writing is therapy and since she’s taken some of the heaviest stuff of her life and exposed it, often with hilarity, to the sun and wind and elements where it can be alchemized, she’s become her own therapist. Or maybe she still needs therapy, but at least there’s a great story to be told. I question whether the pain and suffering is necessary for the craft or whether it just makes the writer more observant -- nothing like fear to sharpen the senses -- and hence, more readily able to translate those observations to the rest of the world. Once you’ve mined your childhood for all the despondency and suffering you can recall along with all the nasty characters that have wreaked havoc upon you, stick them between fictional pages for everyone to see, while being careful to obscure them so ingeniously through changes of place or time or hair color that no one will recognize themselves. Also, always give the male character a small penis. It cuts down on potential libel suits. These are your the tools of the trade, says Lamott. Your heartbreak, your inability to fit in, your desire to be part of another family, relationship, community, etc., one that obviously had it better than yours, and your unlimited ability to manipulate facts. Also, never miss an opportunity to capitalize on all your accumulated crap. If you are a writer, Bird by Bird will provide you with a step-by-step guide that will boost your writing by degrees, from s***ty first drafts to publication, but my guess is that Bird by Bird will help you with your life maybe just the teeniest bit more.
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Reviewed in the United States on November 14, 2015
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Kendall Giles
Bozeman, US
★★★★★ 5
Getting words onto the page!
Format: Kindle
There seem to be as many books about how to write as there are actual writers, yet Anne Lamott makes a solid if not altogether inspiring contribution to the collection. Also known for her non-fiction books dealing with depression, Christianity, and alcoholism, in Bird by Bird author Lamott turns her humor and autobiographical lens toward offering sage advice and inspiration for writers of all levels. While far from Strunk and White's The Elements of Style, and mute on the meter of poetry and the tropes of science fiction, Lamott instead focuses more on psychological issues that confront and haunt writers from all genres, such as defeating the blank page, avoiding perfectionism obsessions, cranking out that first draft, and writing for the right reasons. A breadth of writing advice, Bird by Bird gets its title from wisdom Lamott's father once gave to her brother, incapacitated by the task of writing a school essay on birds. The senior Lamott advised the younger to break the assignment down into manageable chunks: "Bird by bird, buddy. Just take it bird by bird." Divided into five parts, in part one Lamott first addresses writing itself -- getting words onto the page. Lamott starts by giving the aspiring author permission to write and then by encouraging the author to just get the words onto the page. Go ahead, just create that first, messy draft: "Almost all good writing begins with terrible first efforts. You need to start somewhere." She then suggests focusing more on creating compelling characters than worrying about plot: "If you focus on who the people in your story are, if you sit and write about two people you know and are getting to know better day by day, something is bound to happen." She even discusses a short story template -- action, background, development, climax, ending -- that can be used as an initial story structure. Dialog is important too, and compelling dialog can be influenced by real-life encounters, but the main goal is to get that first draft written, in short steps, a little each day. In part Two Lamott talks about the writing frame of mind -- about how authors can psyche themselves into writing using rituals at the beginning of each writing session and by believing in the stories they are telling. Part Three presents specific tools authors can use to help recall memorable quotes and scenes, how to collect new material, and how to gain feedback on drafts, such as using index cards on which to jot down ideas, joining or forming writing groups and sending drafts to a short-list of people an author trusts to give honest and useful feedback, and overcoming writer's block by refilling the author's emptiness through short exercises just to get the fingers moving. In part Four Lamott talks about the publication process and why an author simply giving herself to the writing act in and of itself is often the best reward: "There is no cosmic importance to your getting something published, but there is in learning to be a giver." Part Five contains final words of wisdom and encouragement for the budding author. For example, an author should not hesitate to use experiences from their childhood (and tips are given on how to avoid libel when using autobiographical material). Overall, rather than being the strict writing schoolmarm, Lamott is more like a writing companion. She chats over your shoulder with you at the end of the day, sipping a glass of wine, reflecting on her own experiences in the writing trenches, and sharing what worked for her in achieving success. Her advice is true and her voice is encouraging -- she uses self-deprecating humor to convince any reader that their writing anguish is neither new nor unique since Lamott herself has likely already confronted and conquered those same demons. She persevered and achieved success, and the reader of her book too shall overcome and get their story onto the page. She mentions God throughout, but she does not come across as preachy. Again, she's relating what worked for her, using anecdotes from memorable episodes in her life. There's no magic and no divine inspiration to solve writing problems--she uses real techniques and encouragement to help confront and conquer the blank page. Indeed, we can all use encouragement and insights from someone who's already been there. Like the oft-repeated "Practice, practice, practice" response by legendary pianist Arthur Rubinstein when he was stopped on a street in New York and was asked, "Pardon me sir, how do you get to Carnegie Hall?", Lamott's response to writers in Bird by Bird is just as wise and true, but perhaps even more motivational due to her humor and honest expression from the trenches.
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Reviewed in the United States on April 20, 2011
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Nick
Houston, US
★★★★★ 3
Worthwhile, though average, experience
Format: Kindle
I'll start this review by stating that I'm not an aspiring novelist, at least at the moment. A hearty recommendation prompted me to read this book, though I had only a cursory idea of the subject matter. At a time when it seems that only raving praise or apoplectic hate receive meaningful attention, stating that something is only okay or average feels especially hostile. Unfortunately I must admit that was my finding of this book, that it was a middle of the road, if not totally unexceptional, experience that elicited little in the way of strong responses. Let me be clear: there is value in this book especially for the would-be writer looking for advice, try a sample to feel this book out and don't let my ambivalence scare you off. The positives should probably come first, right? The author is clearly passionate about the subject and it doesn't matter what the topic happens to be, when the writer cares about the topic it immediately makes the book more enjoyable to read. Ms. Lamott's writing is straightforward and honest and I appreciate that immensely. Another book I was reading concurrently too often felt pedantic and by comparison this one did not reek of this stench one bit. The author is perhaps overly generous in her use of quotes, but they're not cloying as if to convince you that she should be taken seriously. Instead these quotations are offered as useful pearls of wisdom. I come from a world of academia where too many quotations tend to be frowned upon, but you may like them so chalk this up to my own biases. While Ms. Lamott doesn't suffocate you with her qualifications, she is entirely within her rights to do so. I say this to illustrate the following point: if you are willing, this book can help you with something. As I said, I'm not looking to publish a novel, article or really anything but there are suggestions and advice that apply beyond the page. I count this as the book's main strength and what keeps it from being entirely forgettable. A challenge I often face, like any writers reading this review, is just getting started and the exhortation offered by the author was so true that I cannot help but to think of the help it will give me. The book is also humble, it doesn't get convoluted and I think avoiding that pitfall deserves praise. The negatives, specific to me perhaps, start with the sense that I found the description of writing and the writing process too mystical. Maybe this too irritates nerves made too sensitive by years of academic rather than creative writing, but if I were looking for advice on a finishing a short story the encouragement to "listen to my characters" would seem silly to me. I understand that the author can only relay what has been helpful to her but it at times seems overly caught up with the love affair of writing as opposed to more substantive things a person can try. Secondly, the tendency just mentioned all too often takes up more space than what seems to be needed and the book is consequently longer than it felt like it needed to be. Overall, I found this book to be a solid middle-of-the-road experience. I wouldn't dismiss it totally but I found myself having to look the other way on several occasions. That maybe speaks more to my background than anything else and if you are a fan of the author please don't take it that I'm trying to tarnish her work in any way. Really, I guess this review is more geared to the person like me who is perhaps not a writer in the sense envisaged by this book. Maybe you are being recommended at this very instant to pick up a copy and maybe, like me, you're somewhat skeptical. To this hypothetical person I say this: it is worth reading even if the starry-eyed expressions get a little trite after a while. I would argue that this is a bit of high praise by itself, it isn't too often that somebody would say that a generally average book is worth the time it takes to read it. I think that's worth something, maybe about as much as this book.
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Reviewed in the United States on July 25, 2014
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Katie B
Carnegie, US
★★★★★ 5
The ultimate "wake-up" scent (and no dry skin!)
Scent: Citrus + Eucalyptus, Size: 12.2 Fl Oz (Pack of 1)
I’ve tried plenty of "invigorating" body washes, but most of them just smell like artificial lime or leave my skin feeling tight. This Huron Body Wash is in a completely different league. Why it’s my new daily go-to: Complex, Fresh Scent: The mix of citrus, eucalyptus, and mint is incredible. It’s crisp and bold enough to wake you up in the morning, but the aromatic greens give it a sophisticated, high-end finish that doesn't smell like a cheap drugstore brand. Actually Moisturizing: Usually, "cleansing" washes strip your skin, but the coconut oil and Vitamin E in this actually leave my skin feeling smooth. I’ve noticed way less dryness on my elbows and shoulders since switching. Great Lather: A little goes a long way. It creates a rich, creamy lather that feels premium and rinses off clean without any slimy residue. The "Peace of Mind" Factor: It’s hard to find a performance-focused body wash that is also vegan and cruelty-free. Knowing I'm getting a professional-grade product without the harsh chemicals (and with Witch Hazel to keep my skin clear) makes the price totally worth it. Bottom Line: If you want to start your day smelling like a high-end spa rather than a locker room, get this. It’s worth every penny!
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Reviewed in the United States on January 12, 2026
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Greg
Pawtucket, US
★★★★★ 5
Great product that seems to last a good long time
Scent: Citrus + Eucalyptus, Size: 12.2 Fl Oz (Pack of 2)
This has a subtly pleasant smell. I like it. I like the consistency too. I will order again. It's soft on my skin and super easy to use. I like the bottle size. It's not too big and it's not too small.
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Reviewed in the United States on March 24, 2026

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