New to this, any advice?

[JennMolly]

I think I may have bit off more then I can chew! I am planning my first garden (well, I had a small veggie garden last year) and would appreciate any help at all. Maybe advice on what plants to put in the back or front. I'm thinking of adding a rose bush, would that fit anywhere? Id like some shrubs in between the shrubs already there. Would you recommend anything? Or any other advice you can give. I'm feeling completely overwhelmed at the moment!

Below I can add some photos of where I am planting. I bought a Costco Perennial kit that includes 75 total plants (I'm not sure how many of each)
crocosmia lucifer
asiatic lily gironde
liatris purple
hosta fortunei francee
hemerocallis purple
sedum autumn fire
hermerocallis yellow
bergenia cordifolia
liatris white
dicentra spectabilis bleeding heart
chrysler imperial rose

I live in Eastern Canada and the area gets pretty much full sun. The photos below were taken at 10am. The first photo is an area of 5.5 x 15 feet (roughly)
The second area which we haven't dug up yet is roughtly 13x20 feet
the third pic is of both areas.
The garden does wrap around the garage which is 4 feet x 24feet but I'm unsure if I will just do shrubs.

[rainbowgardener]

Well that's a pretty mixed bag of perennnials. I hope they give you good instructions on what conditions each needs and how to plant them. Here's a rough start:

crocosmia lucifer- full sun, well draining soil, plant 2-3 in deep with the pointy end up.
asiatic lily gironde - pretty adaptable, part sun to full sun, very well loosened well draining soil, plant 2-3x as deep as the bulb height, pointy end up, lilies are usually planted in the fall or early spring.
liatris purple - full sun but can handle some shade, needs little water once it is established and growing, doesn't like wet soil
hosta fortunei francee - shade tolerant, but likes a couple hours of morning sun. Will burn up in full sun. Don't let it dry out for the first couple months
hemerocallis purple - daylilies are very adaptable. Full sun, but tolerates some shade. When planting spread the roots out, plant so the crown—where the leaves meet the roots—is 1″ below the surface of the soil.
sedum autumn fire - full sun to part shade. Plant so the root ball is level with the soil.
hermerocallis yellow - see above
bergenia cordifolia - part sun to part shade, protect from hot afternoon sun. Usually planted in spring or early fall.
liatris white
dicentra spectabilis bleeding heart - part shade to mostly shade. Likes rich, moist, organic soil.
chrysler imperial rose- full sun.

[ButterflyLady29]

Not part of your question but I have to ask, what kind of shrubs are those, how long since you planted them, and how close to the house are they? I realize it's not at all relevant to your flower garden but they look like some my aunt had that grew over 20 feet tall and ruined part of the foundation of her house. Any shrub planted too close to a house will cause problems later. Yours look like they are very close to a wood porch and lattice. With no air circulation your wood will hold moisture and you won't be able to access it to repaint.

And, what is the unit that is on the side of the house? It looks like a vented gas heater. You don't want to block the access to that or the other items beside it. If you do the plants will eventually be trampled. Been there, done that. Just trying to save you some heartache.

Also, what direction does the front of the house face? From the shadow it looks like it faces south. If so you don't want to plant the hosta, dicentra, or bergenia in the front.

I personally would move the existing shrubs a minimum of 10 feet (3. something meters) away from the house and lay a steppingstone path to and in front the units on the side. Actually, move 2 of the shrubs on the left side out and a bit closer together then have the 3rd in between and in front of the others. The way they are they'll block off your steps completely in about 6 years. If you like the view from the window to the right then you can put that shrub to the left of the one that will be out in front of the others on the left side. A sort of staggered planting. Then plant a low growing shrub in front of your walkway access on the right side, leaving room to use the walkway.

Then rip out all the grass on that right side and build your flower garden there with the rose as the centerpiece. Place the other full sun plants around it in a design you like. Keep mature sizes and flower colors in mind as you arrange the plants. Taller plants toward the house, smaller ones by the existing pathway. Leave plenty of room between plants so you can get in and pull weeds. It will save your back and hands if you put a thick layer of wood chip mulch over the whole area once you are done planting.

Crocosmia tends to multiply pretty quickly (at least for me). You might have to dig and divide every few years. But hummingbirds love the flowers!

[JennMolly]

Well that's a pretty mixed bag of perennnials. I hope they give you good instructions on what conditions each needs and how to plant them. Here's a rough start:

crocosmia lucifer- full sun, well draining soil, plant 2-3 in deep with the pointy end up.
asiatic lily gironde - pretty adaptable, part sun to full sun, very well loosened well draining soil, plant 2-3x as deep as the bulb height, pointy end up, lilies are usually planted in the fall or early spring.
liatris purple - full sun but can handle some shade, needs little water once it is established and growing, doesn't like wet soil
hosta fortunei francee - shade tolerant, but likes a couple hours of morning sun. Will burn up in full sun. Don't let it dry out for the first couple months
hemerocallis purple - daylilies are very adaptable. Full sun, but tolerates some shade. When planting spread the roots out, plant so the crown—where the leaves meet the roots—is 1″ below the surface of the soil.
sedum autumn fire - full sun to part shade. Plant so the root ball is level with the soil.
hermerocallis yellow - see above
bergenia cordifolia - part sun to part shade, protect from hot afternoon sun. Usually planted in spring or early fall.
liatris white
dicentra spectabilis bleeding heart - part shade to mostly shade. Likes rich, moist, organic soil.
chrysler imperial rose- full sun.

Wow! Thank you so much for the details! That will be a lot of help.

[JennMolly]

ButterflyLady29. The shrubs are Emerald Cedars and we just planted them a week ago. They are about two feet away from the deck. Ill take a look at that. There is enough room for us to get behind them and repaint if needed right now but I'm not sure how wide they grow. Ill definitely check out what you said though, what do you suggest for tall trees to be planted close to a house?

That structure is my shop where I work from, its the heat pump/AC unit for the area. Thanks for the advice! I'm going to print it off and talk to my Hubby.

Thanks again so much guys! I'm sure ill have more questions and I really appreciate all of your advice.

[JennMolly]

Do not plant tall trees, any tree, close to the house. Limbs rub against roofs, limbs and even entire trees fall during storms, and leaves accumulate in guttering, not to mention what the roots can do to foundations and water/sewer pipes.
If you want shade, plant a tree so its shadow is pointing at your house during the time of day you want shade, but far enough away that it won't cause trouble later. The mature width of the tree will give you an idea of how far away to plant it (for example, mature width 20', plus a safety zone of 10', plant 30' away from house.

These trees get to be 4 feet wide and reach 15 feet high. Ill be trimming them though, once they reach the railing height. They are really just to look pretty, but I am realizing I am going to might have to trim much more then I thought with the width! lol. They are only two feet away from the porch and spread four feet, it might be ok... Either way, I don't mind trimming. Thanks so much for the info!

[ButterflyLady29]

With a 4 foot mature spread, you'll have 2 feet from the trunk to the furthest point of the "drip line". You'll need an access of at least 2 feet for home maintenance. So the trees should be planted no closer than 4 feet from the porch. In my case I have to have more room so a minimum of 3 feet and do some serious trimming.

[Dgiles]

As far as a rose bush- I have two "Knockout Rose bushes in my yard that take little to no tending. Just like good dirt moist and well drained and mine are in partial sunlight to full. One is a a type of "Knockout" rose bush that has runners off of it the other doesn't. You can take your pick. The one with runners go up and down on the ground and are just gorgeous with little miniature red blooms the others have a dark rich pink small/ medium bloom. I love plants/shrubs that just take planting well and then water and watch them grow. Good luck!