OOOO the ideas are comming in now.. I love it Kara I would love some of the yellow butterfly bush seeds i you have extra.. Is it the buddelia type of butterfly bush? If so and if you can tell me how I can share with you too.. I have purple (nice sized) white (just getting going) and a small pink one I just bought at HD.. Nikki I love your ideas they sound beautiful but the bed is already 5 feet wide as it is and is boardering where we will eventually be our driveway to the garage.. ( probably stone pavers kinda natural ) I thought it was 4foot but my dear Dh corrected me..lol Ambersky I believe I really like the idea of the purple firespike since I already have red it would be a nice addition.. O and I will definately be looking up the Formosa Sage it sounds like something I would like.. Anyone have any black eyed susans or know where I could get some? I really loved havingthem in ohio and I bet they would last a bit longer here with the milder weather but havent seen many anywhere. The Dh is even liking the general plant suggestions but he wants to sit his 2 citrus trees in for awhile ( they are small right now and in pots we could sink in the ground if needed ) Keep the suggestions comming please..

Ebse, the den is a must-have. I actually didn't care if the house I found had a formal dining room if there was an eat-in kitchen, or if it didn't have a den and had a dining room I could convert to a den, I just wanted a den. The den is too big to lose to being more kitchen, it's 15x16 if I remember correctly. It's going to be just the two of us, and this one of us is usually banned from the kitchen when it comes to the cooking, so we really don't need so a huge kitchen, just more cabinets and draw space for much needed "stuff" eandhl, I'd consider it an eat-in kitchen - the people have that oblong table and hutch. I have a table that seats 6 now, but would definitely get rid of it and have something small for just the two of us which I could open up with a leaf for 3-4 people. Since there's a formal dining room, any more than 4 people, we can eat in there. I may take my hutch with me, have too many collectibles in there not to have it, but then again, I could put that in the dining room and just have a table in the kitchen. diwoman1, the laundry room is very small, the washer dryer on that one wall, on the wall opposite from them, to the right of the door opening going in to the laudnry room, there's a tall bank of cabinets - good for storage/pantry if needed. On the two other walls, there's one window and the other wall is actually the door, leading to the garage. Within the garage is a storage room. I thought maybe I could put the washer/dryer in there, but it really doesn't help me much as that laundry room wouldn't work for much more than a pantry, or mudroom. I was thinking about trying to get a stacking washer/dryer and put it on the right side, and make a bench/coat rack on the left. Fori, the cabinets are just old wood cabinets that she's repainted. I even thought about refacing instead of replacing if possible. The kitchen isn't bad at all, I can definitely live with it for a while, but it's not "me" and I really want to update it, but it's livable the way it is now, at least for the time being. I will actually have the luxury of doing what I need to do before we totally move in - this is if we are lucky enough to get the house. It will be a slow move - DH has to get a transfer, so he'll stay here while I start moving stuff up there. I'll probably tackle the master bathroom first, out of the 4 areas I want to update, that's going to be the one that bothers me the most - this will be second - and besides, the bathroom is soooo tiny, it will be easier and faster to do that one first, or so I hope. Thanks to all who've replied thus far - hoping more will do so too!

It would be lovely to see the bed in context, showing then entire length of the bed and its surroundings including the house, any trees, driveway and walkway locations, etc. If you stand opposite the front door about 15' out and then take a series of photos that overlap starting facing the left property line and then rotating and taking photos as you turn to end up facing the right property line. 2' wide (front to back depth) isn't deep enough to make an attractive arrangement IME. I originally had 4' beds, but they ended up looking far too narrow to look good with the house, and so now my narrowest beds are 6' and most are 8' or more. The depth gives room for shrubs to provide structure and winter interest at the back and then a combination of groundcovers, perennials, and bulbs toward the front. It is difficult to make a single straight line of plants look truly appealing IME. It may seem like that is overkill and will require many plants, but if you choose plants that are easily divided (like your hosta) or started from seed, the space will fill faster than you think. What is the shrub growing by the trellis?

It sounds like you're saying that there is continuous slope downward from the door. If that's the case, as long as you fix the puddling depression, the walk will drain. I'm saying not to create too much slope of the soil alongside and aiming toward the walk, as it will slowly but continuously dump soil onto the walk, creating the never-ending clean-up chore. The retaining wall solution I've shown above, being more or less a level, elevated area of soil, is probably the best solution because it doesn't aim any washing soil toward the walk. Water that doesn't permeate the ground escapes toward the left, in sync with the overall flow of drainage. The downside is that it requires a fair amount of wall material. (BTW, porches and decks are MORE OR LESS level, but they actually have a minute slope in order to drain. The elevated area captured by the retaining wall would be similar. Excess water must have a way out. A solution that uses a little less material is one similar to that shown in the picture below. Instead of the wall footprint having a final "leg" that returns toward the building, it would end with the the "leg" parallel to the longest walk and would slope downward so as to terminate flush with the grade. Overall, this does not motivate water to travel quite as far leftward, keeping it longer in the lawn such that it is "cleaned" before arriving at the longest walk. But it would work, probably adequately for the situation. I know all that may be confusing and I hope the drawing helps clarify it. Could not add pic. Houzz must be messing with the system. Will do it later.