Every year, in spring, many gum trees start losing their old bark. This then gets replaced by bright new bark. I personally love this time of year, which has just started in Sydney.

I love this process because of the colours that I see on these interesting trees. Depending on the species and the light at the time, you can see oranges, purples, blues, grey, white, pale yellow and cream. There are probably more colours, but these are the ones I see most.

I can’t say with any certainty what species these trees are, but I do love the colours in the bark.

The colours are great, but in an urban landscape, they can be deemed a little messy as the bark starts falling off. In the bush, the ‘mess’ is irrelevant.

I have found that cloudier and gloomier skies can bring out the colours of the bark very nicely. I do like the colours in this spotted gum (Corymbia maculata) in the picture below.

You can only just see it in this photo, but there is some oranage peeping out from underneath the older bark on this red gum, Angophora costata.

You will probably see lots more photos of trees and their bark over the next couple of months. I can’t help but be fascinated by these trees.