Mahonia 'bealei'.

There are not many genuine winter flowering shrubs. The Mahonia is the best of them - this photograph was taken ten minutes ago on November 23rd. Not the common Mahonia that you sometimes see in hedgerows, but more compact and colourful varieties like this example of the 'bealei' species. This shrub is fully grown at about six feet high, and it flowers for several weeks. Main downside is that its a dense and rather dowdy green through out the summer, so it should not be planted where summer colour is needed. There's a bit of disagreement over its presence in Cil garden, where we have getting on for ten shrubs. I'm a fan, while Mrs D is not.