I would advise you to pick up a copy of Fine Gardening's special issue on Container plantings. A Lowe's, Home Depot, etc. should carry it. It will give you tons of inspiration for absolutely gorgeous container gardens that will give you pleasure all summer long. Bulbs are very nice, but the vast majority of them bloom for only a couple of weeks and then you have to let their foliage continue to grow and ripen for a couple of months after that, at which time they go dormant (disappear) until next year. You want some plants that will look great all summer long! (You can always plant spring bulbs under the summer plants that will bloom and go dormant before your perennial plants get going in the summer.) Once you get the magazine and read up, take it with you to a good garden center next spring. If it's your first garden, we all want it to be roaring success for you! :)

Hi Jennifer, Good luck with your plant swap. I have to be in N.O. that weekend for a baby shower. Wish I could come to your swap. Not sure how much you want to advertise it, but there is a newspaper well-read in New Albany (not sure of the name) and I bet in Oxford as well. Some small papers offer free ads. Have fun! Laurie in ne MS

Heaps of them. Most of Irisgals suggestions with iberis, linum grandiflorum,coreopsis, echium vulgare, nigella bucharica, ammi majus, godetia, cosmos, phlox drummondii, phacelia campanularis, nemophila, linaria marrocana, catanache, dianthus, nicotiana affinis, scabious, succisa, stylomecon, centaurea annua, (I went a bit mad for hardy annuals and cutting flowers this year).

@floral_uk z.8/9 SW UK Perhaps I am. Indeed, I know I am overcomplicating this. Apologies. I guess? While I appreciate your offer of help (or maybe, more precisely, the claim that you are offering help). . . let me just say that I feel as though, from your tone--you decidedly do not understand what it means to be on a fixed income and rent (e.g., not have any long-term commitment to the garden you're trying to improve). I don't have time; that's exactly it. Annuals just make more sense. It's unfortunate that I have some shade, but I have to make the most of it and figure out what works for me. I can't spend $400 on plants; I don't think I can spend $200 on plants, frankly. And then all the other stuff @floral_uk z.8/9 SW UK: e.g., Hall's Honeysuckle might seem to you to be ugly and "potentially invasive,"--admittedly, it is in most places--but it decidedly is not in Portland, Oregon, from every single source I've read. And trust me, I'm thorough. I just want something that will thrive and grow quickly despite my difficult soil conditions. That's why answers like those of @einportlandor are a little more helpful, you know? "Yeah, I was broke, too, I understand how you feel... planted poppies and nasturtium and it all worked out fine!" This isn't rocket science. I just want my backyard to look nice. On the super-cheap. I don't need cutting comments for no good reason guised as "help." And to address your query re the soil; argh. I have done everything within my very limited means and power to fix the soil problems and spent approximately $700 in the past year in the wrong-headed attempt to do so: I mixed in 6" of compost 2x by double digging and excavated about 50 gallons of pebbles/rocks and a miscellany of items left by previous tenants. I created a swale and taught myself how to build a rain garden to handle what the gutters can't manage; I regraded the yard, aerated the lawn; etc. etc. This year, I decided to give up on anything more than a little patch o' grass for my dog and constructed "lasagne"-like raised beds (not supported by anything; my landlord won't let me install anything permanent, like even a floating deck, but I put down wood chips everywhere else. It's the only way that I'll anything approaching meaningful drainage (on my budget) and not spoil even moisture-friendly perennials. Forgive me; just a bit frustrated by what feeling like I've been subjected to [inexplicable] derision/passive-aggression rather than been helped. I'll back out slowly now . . . I honestly don't believe you really even want to look at photos or mappings of my garden (other than to get in something that might be helpful but will definitely be officious). I don't ever do this but this nice/mean thing sucks and I just had to respond; sorry. Thanks all.