At the end of March 2025, I travelled to South Australia to visit the Currency Creek Arboretum, planted by Dr Dean Nicolle. Dean travelled around Australia sourcing seeds and has now managed to plant over 800 species of eucalypts on his property just south of Adelaide.

I wrote about the experience and shared some sketches from the trip in The Guardian, but wanted to share some more photos (taken by my partner Matt) of the incredible eucalypts which I saw there. We saw so many incredible eucalypts, but here are my top three.

Let's start with the 'Potato-on-a-stick' tree! (Note: This is not the scientific name, it just reminded Matt and I of those fried cut potatoes-on-a-stick you can buy at markets sometimes). The leaves of this eucalypt grow in a circle around the branch and then come loose so they can spin around the stick. As the branch continues to grow, the leaves remain giving the thicker branches a flakey look. I'm sorry I'm still trying to find the scientific name of this eucalypt.

Then there's Eucalyptus macrocarpa.

The silvery leaves, gum nuts and bright red flowers, the huge size of the blossoms and the fact it's actually quite a small bush made it a memorable, beautiful species.

Finally, the octopus mallee! Eucalyptus sinuosa which I will always remember because it challenged my understanding of what gum nuts look like, and how I draw them. I mean... look at those gumnuts!