Because we live in the city, we're a little more constrained--we have to have a plan and submit it to have the garden certified. If we don't, neighbors can report it and we could get fined, so obviously we want to avoid that! Our front yard is also not fenced, so we want it to look purposeful and garden-y, and we have sun, shade, partial shade, and a ditch.

All of that to say, we're probably being a bit ridiculous, but we have a couple of different "zones" planned. Sun: black-eyed susans, asters, echinacea. Shade: ferns, hepatica, columbines. Marshy ditch: milkweed, irises, and Swamp rose mallow. And then we'll probably fill in with mulch and/or some ground covers like wild ginger and wild geranium.