SEEKING FLOWER BED ADVICE

I need a little help today with my front flower beds. 

Our front beds had been neglected for a loooong time, like I'm embarrassed to say how long, so I won't, but when we suddenly had the never-ending Spring Break, we got after it! We pulled out a gazillion weeds, cut back bushes, washed the front windows, even trenched part of the bed. When it was finally cleaned out and spruced up, we spread 25 bags of mulch. (I can still smell it.) :)

What we didn't do, was plant anything. It was such a task to clean it up, we decided not to plant anything until the fall. And as you know, fall is fast approaching. So I'm hoping those of you who are gardeners can help me figure out what to plant in one part of the bed.

This is the front right corner of our house, in front of our garage. In this shot, the brick isn't washed yet and all the new mulch isn't in. But it's cleaned up, and waiting for something pretty to be planted, preferably something that blooms that I could cut from each year. 

Because of the path of the sun, this area gets no morning sun. It stays shaded, depending on the time of the year, until lunch time or after. Then it gets full sun for a few hours. Our trees are really tall, so most of this spot and our drive is in full shade by late afternoon, say around 4 or 5 o'clock, give or take an hour or so, again depending on the time of year. The sun moves from the back left corner to the front right corner, diagonally over the house. Years ago there were azalea bushes here, and they did really well. I'm open to any suggestions, but I would love it to be low maintenance. The depth is around 3 - 4 feet from the house to the monkey grass. 

Okay, it's your turn! 

I'm hoping those of you with more expertise than me can help a girl out. 

You could email your suggestions to woodbanklane@gmail.com, or you can leave a comment below. If you've never commented before, here's a quick explanation.

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I'm looking forward to hearing from you. Thanks in advance for your suggestions!

Kathryn