Deck The Halls

Lynda Hallinan relishes the red, white and green of a Kiwi Christmas and suggests ideas for gifts from the garden.

- Lynda Hallinan

Deck the halls with boughs of Osmanthus heterophyllus, fa, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la!

Okay, I concede that my alternative lyrics for that classic carol mightn’t be as catchy as getting all jolly over boughs of English holly, but here in the Southern Hemisphere we’ve always had a slightly different take on Christmas, haven’t we? Instead of snowflakes, eggnog and swags of pine cones and holly berries, we make do with snow-white pavlovas, lolly logs, ice-cream cones and summer strawberries.

I’ve never experienced a “proper” Christmas, as my English expat friends like to call their Yuletide celebrations. Consequently, my idea of a traditional red, white and green festive season is one inspired by craggy pohutukawa in bloom along our coastlines, waxy new potatoes dug straight from the garden and tall jugs of minty mojito cocktails – and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

And, really, what could be more quintessentially Kiwi than a Christmas pavlova topped with ripe berries and kitschy kiwifruit mandalas? My pavs generally collapse in the middle – they’re invariably more caldera than towering meringue mountain – but there’s nothing that can’t be fixed with sinful peaks of whipped cream and edible embellishments such as nectar rich pohutukawa blossoms, shaggy dianthus, nasturtiums, rose petals, alyssum, sky-blue borage and fresh mint leaves.