I'm in the process of transforming my yard.

The previous resident had planted chrysanthemums, lobelia, pansies, ornamental grasses and a couple of shrubs and had neglected to do anything else with them.  The first weekend we were here I tried to corral them a little, but it just wasn't working...besides, I'm allergic to 'mums.  So, they all got pulled up this past weekend and I'm starting all over.

Someone in the past also put gravel down in the beds...in an attempt to inhibit weed growth, I suppose...and then threw down a ton of bark on top of that.  Neither idea worked, and I had a ton of weeds growing through the gravel and bark combo.  So, I had to rake as much of that up as I could, pluck out the weeds, and till the soil in preparation for my gardening ideas.

The bed in front of the kitchen window is going to be my rose garden.  It's quite deep, about 3', so I'll have plenty of room for other stuff.  Next spring I'm going to tack a couple of piece of trellis either side of the window, and then I'm planting rose bushes there and training them to grow up the trellis.  I planted daffodil and crocus bulbs towards the front of that bed this past weekend, so come March or so I should have a nice splash of color in the front there.  I'm reserving part of that bed for herbs...I grew oregano, basil, dill, thyme, and sage quite successfully in pots last year, so next year I want to give them a shot again, but this time in a proper bed.

Now all I have to do is figure out what I want to do with the bed under Davey and Shea's bedroom windows and the bed under the tree in the front yard.  I think I'm going to put tulips, narcissi and crocuses under the tree, but the bedroom window bed....I really have no idea what to do under there.

Anyone got any suggestions?  It's in the shade for most of the day, it catches some sun in the late afternoon and early evening.