A good way to give Christmas wreaths an Aussie flavour is with gum leaves, the florists at Bella Floral Boutique at Morisset believe.
The business, which recently won florist of the year at the Sydney Markets Fresh Awards, say a wreath should be personal and reflect your style and taste.
It should make you smile and feel warm and calm when you arrive home.
A beautiful wreath has a balance of the natural and preserved. Gum nuts and pine cones work well.
Look to nature for dried leaves and twigs. Eucalyptus looks great dried or fresh. Pick up some flowers from your local florist - gerbera, red roses, hypericum berry or red leucadendron. Don't forget your glitter spray. It's not Christmas if you haven't been a little heavy handed with the glitter spray.
For festive Christmas table settings, keep it simple, pick a theme and stick to it for the table entryway and bouquets. White lillies make a statement. Combine it with eucalyptus for a fresh look. Add a dusting of glitter spray and perhaps three small table arrangements in traditional red and green. Use a sprig of something from the arrangements to place on or near the place settings. Add a candle or two.
To keep your bouquet looking fresh, use the flower food the florist provides. It makes a difference. Replace the water every couple of days. Humans don't like dirty water and neither do flowers. Trim the stems, as this helps the flowers draw water.
If you're on a tight budget, go for quality over quantity. The bouquets will last longer. Florists spend time making sure flowers are looked after and in peak condition for when people take them home.
As for what flowers are in season, native leucospermum - commonly known as pin cushions - are looking good. They come in reds for Christmas. The biggest trend for Christmas this year is long-lasting native flowers and preserved flowers.
Kissing Under the Mistletoe
When we're talking about Christmas wreaths, we can hardly forget the mistletoe.
"Mistletoes are a fascinating and diverse group of parasitic plants found throughout Australia," a CSIRO blog post says.
Australia has 97 species of mistletoe.
"Australian mistletoes depend on their host plants for all their water and nutritional needs - in other words they are a parasite.
"Many iconic bird species such as the endangered regent honeyeater depend on various mistletoe species as a source of nectar, and for nesting sites."
But why are we supposed to kiss under the mistletoe? That's unclear, but the kissing tradition is thought to have started between 1720 and 1784 in England.
"I can take a pretty shrewd guess that it involved a particularly lusty and inventive boy and a particularly gullible girl," Mark Forsyth wrote in his book, A Christmas Cornucopia: The Hidden Stories Behind Our Yuletide Traditions.
The mistletoe, then, is all about stealing a kiss. Cheeky, hey.
