The area is about 30 feet long, 15 feet wide. The front area is a bit higher than the back. I don't have a lot of room to build the front up as the soil is already at the level of the sidewalk. The sidewalk goes around our pool so it does need to look nice and soil needs to be contained so as not to escape into the swimming pool. Soil is heavy clay without any rocks at all except for escapes from the rest of the yard which has been "xeriscaped" but natural soil here has no rocks, not even a pebble. Very fine clay with only the organic material that I've added prior to this spring's planting. I will of course continue adding tons of organic matter. I've added store-bought compost, worm compost and alfalfa pellets so far. I think I used about 1,000 lbs of compost, 360 lbs of alfalfa pellets and about 50 lbs of vermicompost. Our soil is very alkaline and I have to add frequent iron supplements because of this due to chlorosis symptoms with my peppers, beans and almost everything else that I've grown in my other areas of the yard. The backside of the garden (lower edge) has a very, very old weathered border of railroad ties that I could build up the soil to which would probably give me about 8 more inches than I'm already at. This would probably level out the garden from the slight hill that it's on right now. I'm thinking that I may need to have an irrigation expert come look at the huge irrigation gate (big pipe) and see if there is a type of fitting to run a soft hose to and divert water to the front yard. Perhaps I can start a bermuda grass lawn in front. This could solve the problem completely. French drain plus berm may be a temporary solution. Have a person coming out in about a week or so to dig a hole for a 500 gallon propane tank. Will see about putting the dirt along the back edge as a berm. Then, will get some good garden soil delivered to build up the backside of the garden. Any idea how many cubic yards of soil I should have delivered?

I grow Siberian iris in part sun/part shade and they bloom and grow without problem. There are Cimicifuga (AKA Actea) such as 'Brunette' with dark purple/maroon leaves that do well in part shade, and have white spires of flowers in late summer. Some folks have found them fussy, but I've not had problems. They are quite deer resistant. There are some varieties of clematis that do well in part sun/shade - I'd google for clematis & shade or go to Clematis on the Web and either search or see if there is a list of shade tolerant clematis there. I have one (I think 'Blue Angel') that grows on the east side of my house, and only gets morning sun, though high, bright shade the rest of the day. It is flourishing. I also had a clematis 'Venosa Violacea' which is purple & white that grew well & bloomed in the same part shade garden as the Actea & Siberian iris until the voles ate the roots last winter. :>( Here is a link that might be useful: Clematis on the Web

Clematis vitalba is considered an non-native invasive in many states. You may want to check to see if it is listed as such in your state before planting it. Why not plant a clematis terniflora or sweet autumn clematis if you want a fragrant white flowering clematis that just might be in flower in August in your zone. Like Marie said, I wouldn't expect too much the first year any clematis is in the ground as it is establishing its root system and flowering more than likely won't be its first priority.

I noticed the tree growing over your beds. If you want to garden and the tree isn't all that dear to you I'd have it removed. I live in a forest and have cleared out a nice area to garden, I do have to plant varieties with shorter matutity days though. I'm still trying to find varieties of tomatoes that will do better here. Good luck. As for herbs, they are right basil and most culinary herbs need full sun. But parsley is one that will do ok in part shade (4-6 hrs of full sun, not filtered). But with a tree like yours overhanging your raised beds I'd say you have full shade.