There has been much to-do this year about the early (and very impressive) flowering of the Jacarandas and Illawarra Flame Trees (see this excellent article by Justin Huntingdale on the ABC Illawarra website). These species were both flowering around three weeks earlier than usual, thanks to unprecedentedly warm weather in September.
The ABC article quotes Dr Brett Summerall, chief scientist at Sydney's Royal Botanic Gardens on these species, and also on the NSW Christmas Bush (Ceratopetalum gummiferum), a favourite for festive decorations in this region and more widely. The article, published on 18 October, includes these words from Dr Summerall: "My expectation is it will be a spectacular four-to-six weeks over the next little while, but as for Christmas we may be a bit sad in that space."
And wasn't he correct! It's the very beginning of December now, and already the reddened calyces (the colourful part on the Christmas Bush's flowers) are at full colour, in huge numbers, and in some cases already beginning to fall from the trees. That makes the Christmas Bush two or three weeks early to flower, similar to the other species discussed above.
The small woody fruit borne by the NSW Christmas Bush are ripening on some trees, and a few Sulphur-crested Cockatoos, Crimson Rosellas and even Galahs are starting to turn up and have a good feed.
The flowering of this species has been fairly variable in my dozen years' experience in the region, but having fruit falling in early December is about as early as I've seen in that time.
All indications are that, with ongoing climate change, the common name of NSW Christmas Bush may become inaccurate. What to do? Do we shift to something else with a seasonal connotation, like Advent Bush, or Spring Bush? Or is it time to move towards names used by First Nations peoples for thousands of years? I've read that this plant was known by the Dharawal people as Boola, and that the same name was used for the related Coachwood (Ceratopetalum apetalum) that grows in profusion on the upper escarpment; perhaps Boola is a better word than Christmas Bush.
One notable feature of NSW Christmas Bush is its natural preference for sandy soils, either sandstone or that of old sand dunes (you can see it at Helensburgh or along the paths near Sublime Point and Bulli Tops).
Another notable feature is that, despite this natural preference, it can still grow well in the clay soils of many gardens around the Illawarra region. I've seen it planted and growing happily on the escarpment slopes and the coastal plain, well outside of its natural distribution. It doesn't always do well in these situations, and there are other local native species that would be preferable if you're on the escarpment, including Coachwood as mentioned above.
But it is more resilient on clay soils than some of the beloved but challenging species such as Waratah (Telopea speciosissima), which are barely worth trying in cultivation in Wollongong.
