I grow all of my plants in just pea gravel. Dont have any problem related to growing in only gravel. Solid pots and fert tabs in the bottom. I used to use soil but realized inserting tabs and moving them around you get dirt in your pond. Just a PIA IMO! Once the fish find the dirt they llive to root around in ti causing more of a mess. Although I did just read an article that said fill 2/3 with soil, plant then 1/2 inch of sand, then lava rock. Apperently the lava rock dicourages the fish from playing in in because it is so course. Still have a huge mess to clean if you get racoons or something else knocking pots over. Gravel you can just scoop up and repot.

Oooo....I'd absolutely love the succulents, peace lily & cactus! =) Please let me know how to contact her & Thanks! - Steve

Beautiful pictures. Right now, I just have daylilies, but will be buying the other kinds for my garden. My tiny little garden. lol.

I don't know what your zone is, but having large evergreen shrubs against the house around my way (zone 5, 4 seasons), creates problems by holding moisture and debris against the house which harbors insects and causes dust and mold to collect, which some people (like me) are sensitive to. If you want to replace those with a flowery, cottage garden, go for it! But only if you love to fiddle and fuss with the garden. I have a flowering border against a rock wall just like you describe. There are many beautiful dwarf flowering shrubs to choose from, but make sure they are dwarf. A flowery cottage garden doesn't lend itself to big shrubs and evergreens. We have large, hardy clumping perennials as our backdrop, and also trellises, which have a conical shape. Remember, repetition is your friend. You can have a few surprise single elements but too many and it just looks like a hodge podge. Also, perennial gardens looks kinda stark until late summer so plant for some spring interest. If you like to sit on the front porch, you have a great spot for a fountain there too, if you really want to go all out. They are a pain though, particularly in the sun due to algae growth, but if some of that area gets shaded by the house, it could work. Here's a photo, the blue stuff is Russian sage. There are coneflowers in there and rudbeckias and blanket flower and yarrow, and some small knock out roses in other places. No lilies but they would look great there, but where this garden is the deer would have them as their nightly salad. The trees in the background are redbuds but we have crab apples in the front yard in front of this garden. There is a big decorative bird bath off to the right which you can't see in this photo.