I don't expect it to become a social gathering for hummingbirds.
I just want my resident Anna to have real flowers to drink from instead of just giving her the fake stuff. Maybe she'll stop glaring at me thru the cameras.
This is my plan.
My vision is to have low borders (catmint and fuchsia) on the two sides so it's easy to see from my driveway or the neighbor's yard - I want us both to easily see if someone's there. The outer edge will have the taller plants, but still low enough that it doesn't provide an easy hiding spot for someone. I always hated walking along a sidewalk with a tall thick hedge pushing out at me, so I don't want to create that in my yard. I also want to be able to access the sewer and water mains without damaging my plants - hence moving the plants inward at those spots.
The center will be a sea of bark with individual island plants. I like the finger-like blooms of the poker plant and sage because they look like castaways waving at a passing ship. At least in my head it looks like that.
I figure I can always add more plants over by the fuchsias and there's still room to play in the center. I have an existing unknown plant in the flower bed against the house (bottom of diagram) that will stay. It has finger-like blooms too and has been here longer than me. So that plant will fill in the flower bed a bit more.
The reddish squares will be pavers. The brown rectangle was going to be a bench, but I just found a pair of red metal chairs and matching table for free, so I might put them there instead.
There is definitely room to grow, but I figure I'd start with this. I can always add plants later and/or replace any that are unhappy. I do think I want to stick with the finger-like blooming plants. The thick bases give them substance, but the openness of the tops keeps things airy and less crowded.
I also don't want any heavy groundcover plants. It took me years to get rid of the rats and I don't want them moving back in.
So that's where I'm at and how I'm envisioning things.
