Red is definitely the colour of the festive season and many native plants come into their own in the Aussie summer making them the perfect addition to any Christmas garden.
With some considered plant selections, any garden can be a real Christmas cracker.
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Red flowering gum
Corymbia hybrid "summer red" flowering gum is a brilliant small tree with large clusters of bright red or pink flowers each up to two centimetres, with peak flowering from December to March.
NSW Christmas bush
NSW Christmas bush (pictured above with a cockatoo) is perfect for a Christmas garden. The vibrant red flowers are not flowers at all, they are what is known botanically as a calyx. The calyx is the part of the flower that surrounds the petals in the bud stage.
The Christmas bush flowers in spring with a show of small creamy-white flowers that cover the branches. Once pollinated, they develop into fruit.
First they drop their petals, and the calyx begins to swell and turn red along with the developing fruit. The bright red calyces stay on the bush during late spring, early summer to provide a wonderful cut flower for Christmas decorations.
Not be outdone, other states have a Christmas bush that can be just as stunning.
Victorian Christmas bush
The Victorian Christmas bush, prostanthera lasianthos, produces white, pink or purplish summer blooms and also provides a protective habitat for birds.
South Australia and Tasmania
In South Australia and Tasmania, bursaria spinosa is also known as Christmas bush. Bursaria produces small sweet-smelling, creamy-white, star-like flowers that are attractive to butterflies. A quick-growing small to medium-sized shrub ideal as a feature plant.
West Australian Christmas tree
The West Australian Christmas tree, nuytsia floribunda, a semi-parasitic plant, is a type of mistletoe. It is the largest species of mistletoe in the world. It produces a stunning display of golden, honey-scented flowers - and like all mistletoe, nuytsia won't usually be found in healthy bushland and is not one for the urban garden.
More suitable additions for the garden include Christmas bells, blandforida grandiflora. These little clumping plants can be grown in the ground or containers and produce bell-shaped, reddish-orange and yellow blooms - perfect for cut flowers.
Finish off the Christmas theme with some native holly, alchornea ilicifolia, an east-coast shrub with leaves like the European holly.
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