The year begins to wind down and winter approaches again. This is often a pleasant time of year, the weather is fairly stable and the temperatures are not too high. Little or no rain may fall. Nights begin to cool.

Many plants only start flowering at this time of year and the Garden still looks good. Crocosmia aurea (falling stars, valentine flower) is special in autumn-its long, leaning stalks of bright orange flowers catch the eye.

Tecomaria capensis (Cape honeysuckle) lines the driveway to the National Herbarium and carries large bunches of orange, red, yellow or salmon, tubular flowers. It flowers for a couple of months and attracts sunbirds, who love the nectar the flowers produce.

The sunbirds have bright, shimmering metallic colours and are a pleasure to watch. About 250 bird species have been recorded in the Garden and it's a popular bird-watching spot. A wide variety of indigenous plants are grown here and they provide food and nesting sites for a diversity of birds.