Christmas flowers in Australia: what's in season for December

Christmas in Australia falls in December, during summer, so the flowers are summer flowers. Holly, poinsettia bracts and forced paperwhites belong to a northern winter. Here the buckets are full of hydrangeas, lilies and red Christmas bush, and the garden smells of gardenia and frangipani. This guide covers what is actually in season in December, how to get it through a hectic Christmas week, and how to keep it alive when the house hits 30 degrees.

Why an Australian Christmas has its own flowers

The European Christmas look grew out of what was green or in berry in midwinter. Australia got its own set by default. The plants that happened to colour up in late December picked up Christmas names, and they stuck. NSW Christmas bush, Christmas bells and Christmas lilies are all named for when they flower. That timing also means the local Christmas flowers are at their best right when you want them.

The natives, and a garden favourite

NSW Christmas bush

NSW Christmas bush is the one most people mean. It is in season in November and December, and in Sydney it is the stem people reach for in the week before the 25th. The red comes from the sepals. The small white flowers open in late spring, and as each one finishes, the sepals behind it keep growing and turn red while the fruit forms in the centre. The Australian Plants Society NSW puts the sepals at about 3 mm to start, swelling to around 12 mm. Those red sepals hold until they are shed around February.

It grows wild on the sandstone around Sydney, but almost every stem you buy now comes from native flower farms in NSW. Buy farmed stems, or cut from your own garden, and leave wild plants alone. Demand lands in one or two weeks, so prices climb in the fortnight before Christmas. Late November or the first week of December is the easier time to buy.

Christmas bells

Christmas bells (Blandfordia) are red and yellow tubular bells on a leafless stem, native to coastal heath in NSW and south-east Queensland. The Australian Native Plants Society says Blandfordia grandiflora generally flowers in December and January, which is where the name comes from. They are a protected plant, and over-picking in the past wiped out local populations, according to NSW Department of Primary Industries growing notes. So enjoy them where they grow. Admire them on a heath walk, grow one from a nursery, or buy stems from a licensed grower if a florist has them. They are a small crop and not easy to find in the city.

Christmas lilies

The Christmas lily is an exotic: the white trumpet lily, Lilium longiflorum, along with the similar regal lily, Lilium regale, both grown from bulbs and flowering in early summer. In many southern gardens they open right around Christmas, which is how they got the name. Small farms sell field-grown bunches in the weeks before Christmas, and they sell out. Most lilies at the florist are glasshouse orientals and Asiatics, so ask for Christmas lilies by name.

What’s at market in December

These are the flowers our data puts in season nationally in December. Supply shifts with the state and the weather, so treat it as a best estimate.

• Christmas favourites: NSW Christmas bush, hydrangea at its high point, and lilies, which are grown all year.
• Back for summer: lisianthus, which starts its main run, and sunflowers from the first summer crops.
• On the way out: the last peonies, mostly from Tasmania, where growers pick into about mid-December. By Christmas week local peonies are thin or gone, so order early in the month if you want them. December is also the last month for kangaroo paw and flannel flower, while delphinium carries on into January.
• Scent: gardenia, frangipani and fresh lavender, which begins flowering in Tasmania.
• Natives: grevillea, Sturt’s desert pea and eucalyptus foliage, which is the easiest way to make a wreath or table runner smell like the bush.
• All year: roses, carnations, chrysanthemums and gerberas.

Gardenia and frangipani are rarely sold as cut stems. Cut your own, or give a potted plant in flower, which lasts a lot longer than a bunch.

Ordering and delivery in Christmas week

The week before Christmas is the busiest of the year for most florists, and every delivery slot fills up. A few plain rules help.

• Order several days ahead, and earlier for Christmas bush and anything you have your heart set on.
• Ask what is in season before you choose. A florist working with December stock, such as hydrangea and lisianthus, will do better than one chasing out-of-season requests.
• If someone won’t be home, arrange a safe, shaded spot or send it to their work before they finish up for the year. A box left on a sunny doorstep can cook in an afternoon.
• Florists and the wholesale markets slow down between Christmas and New Year. Many shops close for a few days, so check before you plan a New Year’s delivery.
• If you are buying for your own table, pick up rather than having it delivered, and go straight home. A hot car shortens vase life more than almost anything else.

Keeping flowers alive in the heat

Warm vase water is the main reason summer flowers die early, because bacteria multiply faster as it warms. Start with a clean vase and cool water, recut every stem, and strip leaves below the waterline. On hot days, change the water daily and use a bigger vase, because more water warms more slowly. Move arrangements to the coolest room overnight and keep them out of direct sun and away from air-conditioning vents, which dry petals out.

Some Christmas flowers need extra help. Hydrangeas drink through their heads, so mist them late in the afternoon, and submerge a drooping head in cool water for half an hour. Split the woody ends of Christmas bush. Keep lilies, lisianthus and gardenias away from the fruit bowl. The full routine, including care for woody stems and natives, is in how to keep flowers fresh.

The Christmas table

Keep table flowers low. A long, low line of flowers lets people talk across it, and it sits in less direct heat than a tall vase on a sunny bench. A few ideas that suit December stock:

• One or two hydrangea heads in a wide bowl, with sprigs of Christmas bush tucked around them.
• A runner of eucalyptus down the table, with short-cut lisianthus and a few red Christmas bush heads along it.
• Frangipani or gardenia floated in small bowls at each place, set out just before everyone sits down.
• Lilies on the sideboard rather than the table. Choose Asiatics if you want them close to the food, because orientals carry a strong scent. Pull the pollen-laden anthers as each flower opens, and keep lilies away from cats.

Set the table flowers up the evening before, keep them somewhere cool overnight, and top up the water in the morning. That gives them the best chance of looking fresh at lunch.

Where to see flowers over the holidays

Lavender peaks in December and January, and Tasmania leads the way. Our lavender farms list shows where to go, including Bridestowe Lavender Estate in north-east Tasmania, which is in flower through those two months. For everything else in flower this month, and what is coming into season for January, see the December flower calendar.

For a guided making session, compare the 2026 Christmas wreath workshops checked with organisers in Sydney and Melbourne.