Christmas bush is a December native, a haze of red sepals and fine foliage. At Fig & Bloom it goes into the Christmas Collection, from $124, when the market has it. Christmas lily is a different plant, a white trumpet, and it is not this stem.
December here has its own flowers. If you want a send that could only have been made in Australia, in this month, start with Christmas bush. You don't need pine and holly borrowed from another hemisphere.
What is Christmas bush?
Christmas bush is NSW Christmas bush, Ceratopetalum gummiferum. The red that reads as a flower is the sepal around a small true flower, which is why it looks like a haze rather than one large head. Fine foliage sits behind it.
In Victoria, the name can also mean Victorian Christmas bush, Prostanthera lasianthos. That's a mint bush, and a different plant. When we say Christmas bush, we mean the NSW one.
It begins in November and it's a December stem, with flannel flower and kangaroo paw. Waratah is a spring native. It isn't the December red, even when people reach for it because it's red.
We use Christmas bush in the Christmas collection. That isn't a promise that every December bunch contains it. When the market has it, it goes into the designs built for it. When the market doesn't, the bunch keeps its shape with the closest seasonal stem.
Which design uses it?
Start in the Christmas collection, and in Christmas Bouquet if you want a hand-tied bunch. Christmas Collection is that bunch, from $124. The design is red and white: red roses, hypericum, hydrangea and cypress, in a white wrap with a black ribbon. Christmas bush is part of the design when the market has it.
Christmas Collection
From $124. Red roses, hypericum, hydrangea and cypress, with Christmas bush when the market has it.
| In the hand | On the table | |
|---|---|---|
| Design | Christmas Collection, from $124 | Natives, Red and Gold, or Red and White, each $165 |
| Christmas bush | Used in the design when the market has it | Named in those three table pieces, on the same terms |
| Where the van goes | The house or the office, then someone sets it down | The house, for the table. Someone there places it. |
When to order, including the last delivery day, is in the Christmas order-by calendar. The month's other flowers are in the Australian flower calendar.
What about a Christmas lily?
Christmas lily is a white trumpet lily, sometimes called a November lily. It is a different plant from Christmas bush, and if you want lilies, that's the lily guide.
What should the card say?
The card is printed from what you type at checkout. Name the person. Name Christmas bush only if you know that design has it this week. A wrong plant name is worse than none. If you aren't sure, write the person and skip the botany.
"Because it only does this in December, and it made me think of you" is a card. "Happy holidays" is a line that could go to anyone.
What should you do next?
Choose the design that actually uses the stem, then the date, then the card.
- Start in the Christmas collection if you want Christmas bush. Don't substitute a general native bunch and call it the same thing.
- Choose Christmas Collection, or one of the three table pieces that name it.
- Check the order-by calendar for the delivery day before you promise the table.
- Type the card. Name the stem only if you're sure it's in the design.
- When the flowers arrive, put them straight into water. The short version is the care guide.
- Order before 1pm local time, Monday to Saturday, for same-day hand-delivery in Melbourne, Sydney or Brisbane. We don't deliver on Sundays.
Questions about an order: hello@figandbloom.com · 1300 447 934
Frequently asked questions
Is Christmas bush a Christmas tree?
No. It isn't a pine, and it isn't holly. It's a native shrub. The red is a haze of sepals and fine foliage, not needles on a tree.
When is Christmas bush in season?
November to December. The small white flowers come first, then the red sepals develop, and that's when it reads as the December red.
Is Victorian Christmas bush the same plant?
No. Victorian Christmas bush is Prostanthera lasianthos, a mint bush. The Christmas bush in our designs is NSW Christmas bush, Ceratopetalum gummiferum, the one with red sepals in December.
Is Christmas bush in the Native Flowers collection?
No. None of the designs in Native Flowers name Christmas bush. Flannel flower and kangaroo paw aren't named there either. If you want this stem, use the Christmas collection.
How do I tell it from other red sprays?
Christmas bush reads as small red stars and fine foliage, a haze rather than one open flower with five round petals. If you can't see that, don't name it on the card.
Can I order Christmas bush on its own?
Not as its own bunch. It comes inside the Christmas designs that name it: Christmas Collection, and the Natives, Red and Gold, and Red and White table pieces.
