FREE TIMES gardening columnist BEATRICE HAWKINS suggests going native for Christmas this year in her latest musings on all things gardening…
DID you know that there is a really great Australian native for use as a Christmas tree?
It has all the shape and style of the traditional pine used at Christmas time but is soft to the touch and I think very special.
The Albany Woolly bush, Adenathos sericeus, from W.A. is an absolute favourite of mine and can be grown very satisfactorily in a pot and used as a living Christmas tree.
In a pot it will require more water than in the garden but avoid over watering as they don’t like wet feet.
As a Christmas tree they should only be in a well-lit room for about two weeks as they don’t like indoor light.
If you are someone who decorates the tree in early December and doesn’t put the decorations away until well into January they are not for you as an indoor tree but would be perfect on a verandah or any outdoor area.
It is a fabulous native with soft grey green foliage and inconspicuous red flowers from spring through to autumn attracting nectar feeding birds and taking very little water once established in a garden.
In well-drained soil they are drought and moderately frost tolerant.
They take pruning at any time of year, provide great foliage for flower arrangements and grown together make a good hedge.
They should only be kept in a pot for one year and then either moved into a larger pot or planted out.
I plan to have one growing in my garden ready to decorate next Christmas.
Also, did you know that each Australian state has its own Christmas bush or flower?
Queensland has a lovely evergreen terrestrial white orchid, Calanthe triplicate.
The flower spikes are upright and can be up to a metre long.
It flowers late December and January in cool moist conditions. This would be a good inclusion in a shade house.
NSW has the spectacular red Christmas bush Ceratopetalum gummiferum that grows from south of Sydney to the gold coast.
It has small white flowers early in spring followed by pink to bright red swollen calyces in summer.
It likes well drained soil and a sunny position for good colour and can be propagated by seed or cutting.
If you are lucky enough to get a really good red bunch try striking some cuttings as this, or cloning, is the best way to get a good colour.
They are a very good decorative small specimen tree, a great cut flower and for sale in florists at this time of year.
South Australia and Tasmania share a beautiful white flowering shrub, Bursaria spinosa.
It is covered in small white flowers in spring and summer and then decorative small brown fruits that are useful in floral arrangements.
It is a small (about three metres) prickly shrub with shiny dark green leaves.
It is native to all states except W.A., very hardy, grown from seed or cutting, and will grow in almost any conditions so would be a decorative inclusion in a native garden.
Victoria claims Prostanthera iasianthos, a bush/tree from two to 10 metres as its Christmas flower. Compact as a shrub it has white, mauve or pink flowers in summer.
Truly and adaptable plant, it also grows naturally everywhere except the N.T. and W.A., is tolerant of shade and full sun and fast growing and propagated from cuttings.
The Western Australian Christmas tree, Nuytsia floribunda, is a truly spectacular tree and once seen never forgotten.
It grows to 10 metres and has sprays of brilliant yellow flowers.
It is a semi parasitic tree needing a host plant for some nutrition.
Because of this it is very hard to propagate but there has been some success in raising them to flowering stage in Perth using strawberries and grasses as hosts.
I am sure there will be more work done in developing and understanding the growing requirements of this lovely tree that appears to like full sun and be frost resistant.
It has been growing in very sandy areas where I have seen it around Perth so maybe I will never be able to have one growing in Warwick.
I have always thought I would like to grow a wattle variety to flower in each month, but with limited space in town, I now realise that will never happen… not even one for each season, sigh … but maybe I can grow all of the Christmas bushes and can substitute the Albany woolly bush for W.A. and have the Queensland orchid inside for a table decoration – now there’s a plan!
Got a gardening question? Send an email to hawkins.beatrice@yahoo.com.
