I would pass on Jacaranda (invasive), Palo Verde (long thorns), Eleagnus (nonnative and often invasive), and Lantana camara (invasive). And Crape Myrtles are also nonnative, extremely overused and their wood is heavy (from water), yet weak. Anacua does sound like a cool native with edible berries, though. Otherwise, I would suggest: [Trees[(https://www.houzz.com/discussions/favorite-underused-trees-dsvw-vd~1735953): American Persimmon Texas Persimmon Oriental Persimmon Desert Willow 'Lucretia Hamilton' 'Little Girl' Magnolias Western Soapberry Fig Pomegranate Goldenball Leadtree Kieffer Pear Oriental Raisin Tree Mexican Plum Pineapple Guava Red Mulberry Paw Paw Loquat Jujube Rusty Blackhaw Texas Mountain Laurel Eve's Necklace Bushes: Texas Sage Rosemary Hardy Hibiscus & Rose of Sharon (Thornless) Blackberry St. John's Wort Elderberry Flowers: Iris [Compass Plant[(https://www.houzz.com/discussions/what-are-you-choices-for-foliage-interest-in-both-sun-and-shade-dsvw-vd~5357531) White Rosinweed Pitcher Sage Standing Cypress Texas Bluebell Texas Bluebonnet Wine Cup Lemon Beebalm [Allium canadense[(https://www.houzz.com/discussions/is-this-wild-onion-and-how-to-propagate-dsvw-vd~5231628) Echinacea Yarrow Maypop Black-eyed Susan Clematis 'Madame Julia Correvon'

I am not familiar with growing conditions where you live; so I can't make specific plant comments. Good for you for taking the hostas out of their containers and planting them under the window in the narrow bed. Now look outside that window. Wouldn't Celery and Doug's suggestions for planting a bed incorporating that beautiful oak make a great view? It would give you some privacy from the street, especially if you use the small paved patio. I differ with Doug about the placement of the swing. I say perpendicular to the house on the small paved patio, behind the new plantings. Privacy and shade. Doug's suggestions about planting the evergreens against the right side of the house are very important. The one near the walk will confuse your eye so the gutter is not so prominent. The placement of one off the right of the house is brilliant- it softens the vertical lines and hard edges. Plant selection for these evergreens is very important. Consult with a well-regarded nursery. You do not want these things turning into 40 ft+ monsters. Start small in this area. Take a hose and lay it on the ground from the planting edge of the right evergreen to the edge of the planting bed for the evergeen at the gutter. We want a swoop, no squiggles. Mark the line with spray paint and have a crew remove the turf, dig and amend the soil and plant the 3 evergreens. Then stand back. Trellises? I say no- keep those for the back of the house. Mid-height shrubs? Ask that nurseryman for suggestions. You are doing multiples of the same thing here- disciplined and controlled. Beverly's photo of the dark gray house- 3 or 4 plants used in repeat- is a good illustration. Once this plan is executed and in place, consider the larger planting plans that have been suggested. I think they are lovely but require too much upkeep. Most gardeners prefer to work in the backyard, not on the street. I feel the cottage garden vibe should be in the back of your house. Keep the front of your house restrained, stately and properly maintained, in keeping with its beautiful Tudor design. Finally, the solar lights need to go. It may be possible to use them in a scattered fashion to light under the oak, a couple to light the small patio, etc. But in the end, what you really need is to run electricity to one light on a post or affix one to the house. Big decision, so think long and hard. Your house deserves something special.

West-facing in Georgia? I would want shade. (Choose trees that won't damage pavement, since you will be planting quite close to it. The 'Princeton' American elm won't, and it is resistant to Dutch elm disease.) Then, because I don't like either mowing around trees or mulch circles around them, I would convert the lawn to ground cover (pachysandra? vinca if not adjacent to natural areas?). I would add a brick walk bordered in light stone or concrete from sidewalk to steps, so visitors don't have to edge past parked cars to reach a walkway. (Would have made the walk wider, but I see what looks like a utility access cover in the way.) I would remove the stone mulch as inappropriate for the traditional style of the house, add an "anchor" evergreen shrub with a well-defined shape on each side of the entrance, and a larger, looser evergreen (rhododendron? mountain laurel?) at the left corner, with lower evergreens under the windows and something lower still (azaleas?) in front of the foundation beds. The goal would be a simple, traditional landscape in keeping with the traditional-style house, so it looks like it's been there forever. Like this?

Hey, neighbor! D/FW here. I don’t think you’re going to be able to plant anything for shade there, unfortunately. And just about anything you plant is going to hang over your patio quite a bit in most cases. My suggestions: My neighbor attached a wire trellis to her fence, and up three feet from the top of her fence. She planted crossvines, which are now spilling over our side. We love it! She came over the other day and I showed her how great it looks on our side. :) It blooms heavily for about a week or three in spring: The rest of the year, it’s green in warm weather and semi-green in winter. Coral honeysuckle (another Texas native and pollinator, as is the crossvine) is also a wonderful, tough vine. It grows super fast and is a bit more green in winter than the crossvine. Great plant. Want the toughest perennial around, that butterflies love? ’New Gold’ lantana. These pics taken after weeks upon weeks of triple digits and afternoon sun, and irrigation every 1-2 weeks: It loves heat, drought, and being left alone! It thrives in full sun, so if your area is shady, it won’t bloom as much. Easiest plant I’ve ever had. Evergreen shrubs you could plant, but will grow quite a bit over the concrete unless you prune every other day: Dwarf Abelias (various ones), dwarf Yaupon Holly, various nandinas (look for non-invasive ones), Sunshine ligustrum, various salvia types (semi-evergreen), dwarf Crape Myrtles (not evergreen). Do you like cooking with rosemary? They make great evergreen shrubs here. Don’t forget native ornamental grasses. They bring in a wispy feel. Anyway, a few ideas, there are others depending on the exact growing conditions. I’d grow a vine over the arch, with a mixture of shrubs and perennials in the rest. And add a birdbath — birds and insects are needing a drink in our increasingly brutal summers. It is a narrow bed, yes, but I have lots of things thriving in mine, including my narrow street side hell strips. You’ll just have spillover — which to me is a good thing. Softens everything up. ETA: I lost years-old cannas this year, too, but not from heat, rather the last two extremely cold, freezing winters we’ve had. ETA 2: I would not plant any cacti there, for many reasons. ETA 3: My soil is more alkaline than yours, so yes, check with local nurseries for acidic-lovin’ plant ideas, too. All I’ve listed are fine in both. Also, Neil Sperry and Howard Garrett are two area planting experts … check out their websites and books.