shrubs, shrubs, shrubs - summer bedding is just that, only good for the summer - still worth buying if you want lots of colour though. But you need some shrubs to give interest in the winter when there's nothing else to look at, so have a look at some evergreen things like Euonymus varieties, Pieris and Skimmia (if your soil isn't alkaline), evergreen Hebes. If you don't put any shrubs at all, there'll be nothing but bare soil all winter. There are some evergreen perennials too - things like Helianthemums, campanula muralis, arabis, iberis, ajuga reptans, heucheras (though these can look a bit tatty in the winter)