Almost 20 years ago I planted the first of what became a collection of Corymbia maculata (spotted gum) in the yard. These are wonderful native trees - indigenous to the area - well almost the area - about 2kms north is a natural stand of spotted gums, I extended their range ever so slightly when I planted mine (according to local wisdom, mine weren't expected to survive the frosts Sams Creek gets through winter.... guess we proved that one wrong....)
In late October and into November the trees shed their outer spotted bark, revealing a fabulous lime green inner layer - this slowly turns a creamy-ivory before the spotted bark forms once more and encases the trunk for another year.
