I know this is an old thread, but I figured I would share this anyway. A work friend gave me a couple of those little plants bc she had luck attracting ruby throated hummingbirds with them in the past. I potted them last summer and we never noticed a hummingbird until mid-Sept, but I'm guessing they were probably there all summer and we just didn't see them as they are so fast. This is her, and she zipped in and out so quickly that I wouldn't have noticed her unless I was looking for her. I just hung a hummingbird feeder today in hopes to get them to stick around the yard a little longer. At ~ 10 o'clock:

There are many of them this year but without a doubt my award goes to the beautiful autumn perennial and in my opinion one of the most spectacular and mysterious autumn plants - Aconitum carmichaelii Arendsii. It has been her third year in my garden and it only gets more stunning each year. It's almost 2 metres or well above 6 feet high. This year it's been flowering since the end of September and will continue to do so at least well into November as it has bunches of buds in every leaf axil all the way down. It flowers in succession so you sure have a nice display all autumn. And that is just one plant! Not only that it's elegant and trouble free all the other months out of flower with its deeply lobed dark green leaves and firmly upright and compact stem but it resists drought like nothing (never ever watered it, except when planting it) and is never bothered by any pests and diseases. The picture can't really capture the gracefulness and elegance this plant adds to the garden. You simply must experience it. I found the tag at the base of the plant and found out it had been really costly but looking back it's worth every single pound I gave for it.

I'm not surprised that your jewelweed is surviving, Deanna. It's a prolific re-seeder! I have no qualms about pulling up clumps of it that are growing where I don't want them to grow. I know they'll be back! On edit: You have small children, if I remember correctly. When jewelweed goes to seed, it's an unending amusement to little kids to squeeze the swollen seed pods and watch them explode! (Hahaha, and I must admit I still get a kick out of it!) Hence jewelweed's second name "touch-me-not." I should mention that invasive honeysuckle bushes are great pollinator attractions, hummingbirds among them. Most people wouldn't willingly allow it to grow, and I have battled it in a few places where I don't want it. But I welcome it in the unmowed areas that I am re-foresting because I know that eventually the trees will take over. In the meantime it is a fast growing provider of cover/privacy/screening and a boon to the wildlife.

Both Ligustrum japonicum (privet) and barberries suggested above are listed invasives for most of the east coast. Invasive means that it spreads into wild areas via birds or wind and replace native plants. So I would recommend against either one. Considering your other responsibilities, the easiest maintenance is lawn because you just mow it. If you don’t feel the urgent need for gardens, and it seems you have enough on your plate without adding gardening chores, grass probably involves the least time and skill to maintain. There are no maintenance-free gardens. If you want flowers and healthy plants, proper bed preparation is important. The first thing to do is to get rid of all the weeds currently there. If you are comfortable with glyphosate, go for it. Get a soil test done through cooperative extension to see what if any improvements you should add to the soil. For instance, if you have some of those old oak leaves that have rotted, dig them in to add organic matter which will improve the soil texture, moisture-holding capacity, and some nutrients. Or if you have a pile of rotted bedding or manure from your animals add that. Make your beds a minimum of 5’-6’ front to back so there is actually room for plants and the garden looks proportionate to the building. Then mulch deeply (several inches) with a fine-textured mulch, tamping it down to keep light from getting to the soil surface. Use a deeply buried edging and add bricks on the inside edge to help keep grass from growing into the bed, but you may need to use grass-be-gone periodically or more glyphosate. Use Preen as directed on the box to prevent weed seeds from germinating. You will still need to check every couple of weeks and pull up any weeds that sprout to keep them from getting a foothold. And mulch will need to be added periodically to the surface since it breaks down. Preventing weeds is far easier than getting rid of established weeds. As far as planting, few if any plants other than annuals will bloom all season. You want an overall combination of perennial plants (both shrubs and herbaceous), including some evergreens along with some annuals that need to be replaced each season (so perhaps 2-4 times annually in your area) to provide a lot of flowers. In choosing shrubs and perennials, choose some with evergreen leaves and some with colored leaves for the times when flowering isn’t happening due to adverse weather conditions. Use a range of leaf sizes for textual interest. Even in times of no flowers, you still want the garden to look nice, and there will be times with no flowers. For me, the no flower season starts now, but in youR area it may well be the hottest time of year. Way up near the top of this thread, someone suggested getting a consultant. It need not be too expensive, and can save some potentially expensive mistakes since gardening successfully has a good learning curve. But if you don’t want to go that route, at least go to a good independent nursery with photos of the beds and ask for suggestions. Then do research, looking up the plants for the potential to be invasive, their ultimate size (tags typically give 5 year estimates), any disease issues, etc. Less variety is usually better than using one of this and one of that. Plant in sweeps or blocks of one kind of plant for more impact. You can also look around at plants that you like in gardens in your area and seem healthy. Take photos and post on the Name that Plant forum for ID. https://www.gardenweb.com/discussions/namegal Generally, my area is too different from yours for good plant recommendations, but for one plant I love that is perennial and long-blooming here, but also does well in Georgia, check out the native honeysuckle Lonicera sempervirens such as Major Wheeler. Mine blooms from May until now, though in your area, I am sure that will be different. Japanese honeysuckle are invasive and so should be avoided, but this native is very attractive to hummingbirds as well as beautiful and long-blooming. It is a vine and so will need a stout support that it can twine around, but it can be pruned when it gets larger than you want.