This is a small, deciduous, ornamental cherry tree, with an upright-spreading to rounded habit, and ovate, toothed, green leaves, bronze-tinted when young, orange and yellow in autumn. It blooms in flushes repeatedly from November until March.

This twining and climbing evergreen grows vigorously in the New Zealand plantings of the Pavilions and this year has produced a couple of dense racemes of funnel shaped, pale yellow-green flowers. The story of the survival of this once extremely rare plant is extraordinary.

Chamaerops humilis is a miniature palm originating from Southern Europe, including Italy, Spain, Sardinia and Sicily, and across the Mediterranean, on the coasts of Algeria and Morocco. It is the only palm native to Europe, and rarely exceeds 1.5m high.

An eye-catching sight in winter is the handsome shrub Garrya elliptica, or silk-tassel bush, draped in flowers. These male catkins, up to 8 inches long, comprise lots of little flowers that, on close inspection, are creamy with pink markings and yellow anthers but overall appear silvery grey.

Jacquemont's birch has a presence year round on the lawn of the Rock and Water Garden (Area H), its gleaming white bark visible from all around. B. utilis, Himalayan birch, was found by Nathaniel Wallich, Director of the Botanic Gardens of Calcutta, in the early 19th century, and introduced by Hooker in 1849.

This large bushy shrub has responded to the hot summer by flowering very profusely. The fine evergreen foliage with up to 40 leaflets on each 6in pinnate leaf provide a good foil for the bright yellow, pea-like flowers.

This shrub is a delight in mid-winter, skirting the path parallel to the main path leading up to the fountain, in the Award of Garden Merit Border.