In Australia we experience a summertime Christmas, with hot, sunny days, in strong contrast to the cold, snowy season enjoyed in the Northern Hemisphere. Pictures of snow-covered pine trees seem to represent Christmas, but these are very out-of-place in our Australian heat.

As if to compensate for the lack of snow covering the trees, some of our Australian plants put on displays which, with a little imagination, could be described as 'Christmassy'.

Near creeks and gullies throughout the Pine Rivers Shire, the many Commersonia bartramia (Brown Kurrajong) look very festive, with masses of creamy-white flowers weighing down the horizontal branches, giving the impression of the aftermath of a snowfall. Most of the Commersonia flower a couple of weeks before Christmas, and have faded by New Year. However, several can to be noticed still in bloom in January. But, as they fade, other garden shrubs are coming into blossom for the Christmas season.

In my home garden, near Mt. Kobble (south of Dayboro), I have a couple of very lovely Leptospermum petersonii (Lemon-Scented Tea-Trees). They grow side by side, but are slightly different forms, one with green 'hearts' in the flowers, the other with pink 'hearts'. The former always starts flowering in early December, a month before its companion and, by Christmas, it is covered with thousands of its white flowers. This presents a dainty snow-like effect, with all the white spots amongst the green foliage, and looks very 'Christmassy'.

Besides these white flowering Commersonia and Leptospermum, there are a few Callistemon brightening my garden. Not really colourful, but none the less pretty, is my Callistemon sp. Chinchilla, a large shrub with slightly weeping branches and soft pink brushes which fade to cream. Brighter with their red brushes are C. ‘Rose Opal’, with a few unexpected flowers, C. ‘Wild River’, always spoiled by the Pale-headed Rosellas, and C. ‘Pindi-Pindi’. The last has a real burst of Christmas blossom, following a heavy flowering in spring. The brushes of ‘Pindi Pindi’ are not as densely arranged as most Callistemon, with the actual flowers sometimes 50 mm apart, making it a very open brush. While looking through the Readers Digest Atlas of Australia, I discovered that there is a place called Pindi Pindi in Queensland, midway between Mackay and Proserpine. Presumably, C. ‘Pindi Pindi’ originated in that area.

Also flowering through summer and the Christmas season are the well known and popular Babingtonia (previously Baeckea) - B. virgata, B. frutescens and B. camphorata. B. virgata is a small tree of south-east Queensland’s coastal creeks, now available in many forms. B. frutescens is native to the coastal Wallum of southern Queensland, a dainty shrub with weeping branches, very fine foliage and tiny white flowers. All three deserve a place in any native garden.