Off the top of my head, I can say dianthus stays green all winter, I know there are more but I'm having a brain fog right now, :)
Alberta

Mo, Onamental grasses won't stay green, but will give form & movement to a winter garden. Donn is you man for those!
M

Holly
I collected the berries and let them sit at room temp till they were really over ripe (I forgot about them). Next, rub all the berry pulp off the seeds (supposedly, the pulp prevents the seeds from sprouting). Once the seeds were completely cleaned I put them in soil in a milk jug in the part of the yard that is almost total shade--where the jug would not dry out.

About mid-summer they finally sprouted. Cute little buggers and definitely shiny holly leaves--2 each. In about 5 years they should probably be visible from more than 20 feet away.

But, they are MINE and I grew them from seed. Am I crazy or what?

For me it's:

Lavender
Thyme "German Winter"
Dianthus
Coreopsis lanceolata
Sedums
Hens-n-chicks

I second the grasses too for winter intrest :D

Vera

Yucca. I love Yucca. People on the Perennials forum have been trying to get rid of theirs, but not me. I like to look at them in winter. Very pretty right now too.

I'd LOVE a yucca! I wouldn't mind finding one of those blue yucca's that get the nice trunks. There's a yucca back in Nebraska that no way would I ever plant...those suckers put out runners and babies 10 miles in all directions LOL!

Vera

Thanks for the ideas everyone :) I wrote them all down and will be on the look-out for seeds for this winter.

I did WS some lavender this year, so that will be nice. I also WS'd some sweet william from those ten cent packets. Thyme seeds shouldn't be too difficult to find, so I'll definitely give that a try.

I don't know a thing about sedum or hens-n-chicks, but it's always fun to learn something new. I did a few google searches on these. Are these difficult to grow in your experience?

My MIL has some coreopsis, and it's pretty. She just got it this spring, so I haven't had a chance to see it in winter yet.

A few of my neighbors have Yucca. I didn't know that's what it was until I looked it up. So far, it's not taking over their yards as far as I can see, but I haven't discussed it with them, so I don't know ;)

I have some ornamental grasses that were here already when we moved. Does anyone know of miniature varieties that won't take up too much space? Two of the plants we have are medium sized and work very nicely in their location. However, we have two of what we call our monster grass bushes. They're nice plants, but they're right at the back of the deck, and by the end of summer last year obstructed the steps on either side. We could still walk down them, but had to push through the brush each time, lol. We need to get rid of them, but I don't know if I'm physically strong enough to dig those massive things up :) I should probably give it a try before they take over the deck.

I have not grown many shrubs from seed...cuttings seem like a better option in many cases. I have some perennials that add some green during the winter but ones that I can count on include heuchrea and evergreen candytuft (Iberis sempervirens),

- Brent

Woodland Betony - it's blooming right now in the shade and is very lovely. Easy to grow and divide.

Hoehum, that holly story is very inspiring! Those babies sound so cute.

Hoehum, it is a special thing to grow things from seed. I feel the same way about my heather ... almost like they're my babies, lol. I'll have to ask my sister if she still has holly plants, and maybe I'll give it a try. Some things you have to be in it for the long haul. Now I understand the high prices on some of these plants.

Cuttings is something to consider as well. I'll need to do some further research on that, as I don't know much about it. I also need to do some research on heuchera, candytuft, and woodland betony, as I know nothing about them. I learn so much from this forum.

My malva zebrina stays green all winter. They almost look like shrubs. Blue fescue grasses also stay blue all winter. The green leaves of my stokes asters also stay green all winter - even when we had temps right below 17 degrees for a few days. Either they are hardy or they are in a great spot. Anyway, those are a few I just thought of.

Carrie

Make sure you are "looking" for plants that will stay green in your zone. I am in 7 Long Island and both my malva zebrina and sedum go dormant for the winter (I know because they are right next to each other and there is always a big space!)If you are north of here they probably won't stay green for you. I have tried adding little bushes and things to my beds to get some evergreen, but they tend to get smothered during the summer when the flowers get tall and the evergreens get sickly from lack of light.But I plant everything too close - -I like to avoid space for weeds.

My first thought was the perennial aylssum - basket of gold. I'm in the same zone as you. The first year you have only the foliage - but it stayed green all winter, then this spring I had beautiful blooms in late Apr/early May.
And I have to agree with the yucca. I have 2 yucca plants (one in front and one out back) - and they do stay green all year as well. I did not w/s them - but had not heard of w/s until after I had them for a few years.

Thanks for the suggestion bulbs. I have some annual alyssum, but have not tried the perennial yet. Another to add to my WS list :)

I have started summer sowing some coreopsis, thyme, and sage which I heard does well in the winter as well. I bought one sedum plant (Sedum Angelina) to see how it does this winter. It was fairly inexpensive, so even if it goes dormant, I won't feel too bad. I made a few cuttings, which is something I'm pretty new at, and they seem to have taken even without the rooting hormone. I also ordered a few heath plants, which are supposed to arrive in September. I'm very excited about these. Certain types of heath are supposed to tolerate alkaline soil more easily than heather. Two of the four small plants I've ordered will flower in the winter and the other two in spring.

I'm also looking into perhaps getting or growing some creeping thyme. I've seen some pictures that are quite pretty, and it blooms with little pink flowers in spring, and it supposed to be tough enough to walk on. I've seen conflicting info on what zone it's considered hardy though. Some people use this for the their lawns instead of grass, which is a pretty intriguing idea. If I was starting all over, I would consider this, but sounds like too much work with already established grass.

mo girl, verbena bonariensis (verbena on a stick) stays green all winter here in zone 7 (southern Virginia)

How is your scotch heather doing MO_Girl? I've only tried that one once and it died in mid summer for me so I assumed it didn't like the heat but maybe it was something else.
You asked if sedum was easy to grow - very easy! It's wonderfully heat and drought tolerant. It's not evergreen but the dried flowers will remain for awhile and give you some winter interest. Autumn Joy is easy to find and grows quickly.

If you need evergreen perennials for shade, heuchera and helleborus are two of my favorites. Helleborus is tricky to winter sow though. Heuchera - I got no seedlings the first time I winter sowed it and way too many the last time.

For sun - dianthus is a nice front-of-border plant. I'm still experimenting with which ones do best here, but so far the green leafed varieties don't come back for me. The ones I've had with gray leaves do better and I like them better anyway. That would be a easy one to winter sow. I had good luck with candytuft seeds as well.

I don't think common yucca will take over your yard. It's just very difficult to kill, maybe impossible. Plant it where you want to keep it for the rest of your life. I planted one too close to an outdoor water faucet and get stabbed every time I turn the water off and on. I have never gotten any volunteer seedlings though. I don't think it's the same one Vera mentioned. I don't get runners out away from the plant, just one big 3-4 foot clump.

playsindirt:

I googled verbena and it's a pretty plant. I think I'll do do more research on that later. Thanks.

christie:

Thanks for the suggestions. I've heard helleborus is a tough one from seed, but they are quite beautiful. Heuchera might be something to look into from WS standpoint. Hmmm, my dianthus is green-leaved. Do you know some names of dianthus whose leaves are gray?

My scotch heather is doing alright. One plant is up to two inches, looks healthy and doesn't seem to mind the heat ... but the other one is still barely visible to the human eye, lol. I'm not expecting much from the teeny one, but it's still hanging on to life, so I'll stick with it. They're both still in small pots filled with peat moss, since I thought I remembered hearing peat is a little more on the acid side. I'm a little unsure whether to plant them out this year because of their small size. Also, I will probably need to ammend the soil so it's not too alkaline. It's possible that could have been your issue instead of the heat, but who knows.

I had a couple lavender seedlings mysteriously die. The ones in the front yard look great, but the two in the back didn't make it. Perhaps I watered them too much or they didn't get as much sun.

Someone else will know more about Dianthus than I do. I have some with single pink flowers and a different variety with double pink flowers and I don't know their names. Both have grayish foliage. The one with single flowers may be Bath's Pink. I have one called Pixie Star but haven't had it long enough to give an opinion. I grew Zing Rose from seed but killed them. I don't know which ones are best to grow from seed. Some are hybrids.
The Mobot site has lots of dianthus descriptions and pictures.

Here is a link that might be useful: Mobot

Cottage pinks, maiden pinks are easy to WS and stay green all year. They are a daintier flower than regular dianthus. Depending on your climate/zone hollyhocks - they are their prettiest for me in late winter/early spring as far as foilage goes. Columbine is another one that stays green for me all year......

Lynne

Also try Japanese Sedges - carex family. I have carex morrowi "Ice Dance" and it did beautifully this last winter!