• Stonecrop plants feature succulent green leaves.Anna Yu/Photodisc/Getty Images
  
  Small plants are the workhorses of the garden, filling in bare, colorless areas where larger plants cannot fit. Grown in a wide range of green hues, they help to complement those plants and flowers with color. Some small plants are evergreen and their green foliage provides the mainstays of the winter garden because they retain most of their foliage year-round.
  
  

Spotted Dead Nettle

• Spotted dead nettle (Lamium maculatum) is a low-growing evergreen groundcover plant that has a rapid growth rate. It has a spreading form that grows 6 to 12 inches tall. The green, variegated, 1-inch-long leaves on spotted dead nettle are crinkled and feature rounded teeth, and when bruised, produce an unpleasant scent. The lavender flowers on spotted dead nettle feature an upper and lower petal-like lip. Spotted dead nettle grows best in part to full shade and well-drained, acidic soil and appreciates a cool planting site. Grow spotted dead nettle in USDA plant hardiness zones 4 to 8.
  
  

Creeping Liriope

• Creeping liriope (Liriope spicata) is an evergreen plant that has a moderate to rapid growth rate and grass-like, clumping habit. The strap-like, 18-inch dark green foliage on creeping liriope casts a bronze and green tinge in winter. The spike-like flowers are pale violet to white and appear in mid to late summer. Following the flowers is the blue to black, berry-like fruit. Hardy, creeping liriope is tolerant of adverse conditions and is drought tolerant. Creeping liriope grows best in full to part shade and well-drained soil. Grow creeping liriope in USDA plant hardiness zones 4 to 9.
  
  

Orange Stonecrop

• Orange stonecrop (Sedum kamtschaticum var. floriferum 'Weihenstephaner Gold') is a low-growing, herbaceous perennial plant that features foliage that grows 3 to 4 inches tall. The thick, succulent green leaves on orange stonecrop is sharply toothed near the end of the foliage. The evergreen-tipped foliage on orange stonecrop is spatulate to obovate in shape and attached to the deciduous stems. Orange stonecrop features small, yellow, star-shaped flowers that are ½-inch long. Beginning in June the flowers emerge to last until August. Orange stonecrop grows best in full sun and well-drained soil. Hardy, it is also drought tolerant. Grow orange stonecrop in USDA plant hardiness zones 3 to 8.