I would love an answer to this also. I am sick of pansies and violas. I did snaps last winter, but they really didn't bloom until the weather warmed up. I don't need flowers necessarily--just something besides pansies and Kale.

I use curly leaf parsley. It will even look good in a hanging basket. And lots of pots of different kinds of ivy.
Also leaf lettuce, Bright Lights chard and dianthus. A good break from pansies and violas.

Sweet Alyssum: Lobularia maritima is great were he grows: full autumn, winter and spring color and marvelous scent in any container or sunny slope from a summer sowing.

Combines very well with other winter annuals such as violas or pansies.

I've been using radicchio as an edging plant in some beds for years. I start the seeds around Labor Day. They're big enough to set out now and provide brilliant color from November through early April when I begin cutting the ruby heads for salad or grilling. I like them much better than ornamental kale or cabbage because they color up well even if winter is warm, which doesn't happen with kale or cabbage.

Same question, and zone-specific. Anything but pansies and deco cabbages for fairly sheltered, partly shady bed in z6b?

Calendulas have worked well for me. Some dianthus are good in winter, too, I think. I am not sure which colder zones these bloom during winter. I was told dianthus are good in zone 7.