I can't grow Freesias outside in my climate but I have seen them growing happily out of stone walls in Italy. My reservation about this idea would be that they need entirely different conditions from most vegetables. As socalgal said, they don't want much water and I suspect they don't want rich soil. In your picture is it possible that the Freesias are actually planted in the gravel edge rather than in the beds themselves? Maybe you could grow them in pots and place them around the garden? Perhaps you could contact the guy who does the blog where you found the picture and ask how he does it?

Thanks for all the suggestions! Will let it sink in and come up with a plan. Had some more questions. Looks like it will be helpful to dig out existing grass bed and mulch irrespective of in-ground or raised beds, will do that. Are there any tools/devices I can use to make this task easier other than a spade and a wet ground? I also like in-ground as it will mean more planting area, but we have used lawn care in the past, almost 10 years but past 3 years have only used fertilizer and spot weed control. Will that have damaged the soil a lot? Red worms is a great idea, will it be useful for in-ground and pots too? We are in Zone 7b. Soil we have is red clay. I plan to plant a sub set of the veggies I have listed and do a rotation every year. Any suggestions on how to get soil tested and how to use the results? The backyard gets a lot of sun, with sun rising along the fence edge (where the back and side fences meet) in the picture. The house shadow seen is at 4 in the afternoon. Any suggestions on where to setup trellis for beans and other creeper vegetables which can block the sun for the smaller plants? I know I have work to do before I get to that stage, but just to have an idea. Btw, I plan to remove that small tree on the side of the plots. Also the soil in our existing beds has become very weedy ( side effect of using horse manure, looks like it had ingested lot of seeds) with harmful soil bugs like grubs, gnats etc. Should the soil be replaced or can I still salvage it? One of the beds has wild mint which grows back ferociously every year, how much ever I try to remove. Thanks again!

Chives die down in winter. All that growth will be from this spring. You don't cut them down to refresh. You cut them down to eat! Start harvesting and the refreshing will take care of itself. Cut at the base. Snipped off leaves look messy and may die back.

LOL, DLM, maybe I will post the plan if you want the gory details. Our house is long and narrow and runs roughly parallel to the road, and not very far from it either. Part of being circa 1900 is that all the land is in the back. You can enter to park at either end of the house. The front door is more toward the middle. It's just less intuitive than it should be. Not that any guest has ever spent the evening trapped in my kitchen garden. Over the years tho, I have definitely had people come in the wrong doors. Also it's not so much that we are literally worried about hordes of wandering guests, it is more a way of illustrating that something is lacking in the layout. When you arrive somewhere, it should just be entirely clear where you go next.