I would ready my beds now Get weeds out and a good layer of compost on them) and them stock it with bulbs this fall. THen in spring you can put the flowers and shrubs in over the bulbs. There is just nothing like a nice display of tulips and daffodils, alliums (If they grow in your zone) and all the other "Minor" bulbs.

This fall you could also start a patch of sweet william and some foxglove and any other biennial plants like columbine. THey will stay small this fall but bloom next spring and summer. Next summer you will want some of the neon dianthus (Too bad, they are only annuals! Gorgeous bright cherry and grape colors on thick healthy stems! I also love Orlaya for a lacy white flower. I would recommend one plant of highland white dreams daisy from Wayside (You wil have more in a couple of years if you love them as much as I do! Leave room for some sweet peas, zinnias, sunflowers and batchelor buttons in the summer...Just a few of each will give you lovely bouquets. IN the shady area I would grow ferns, hydrangeas if they work where you are, and other woodland type flowers. Maybe hostas would do well? IN the sunny area, think about trellising some flowers then they take up little ground space. A nice hardy rose that will be fragran most of the summer would be top notch! And then there are the lilies...plant every kind of lily that grows in your climate! THey will bring you more joy then you can imagine! FInally, tuck in a chrysanthemum and some autumn joy sedum for late fall bloom. And maybe a tall blue perennial astor or a lovely dainty white like Monte Casino.

Ummm, Isn't it LOVELY!

LizaLily's plan for how to get started, and many of the flowers she listed, are great.

I recommend some peonies and delphiniums - they like the winter cold LizaLily's climate doesn't have. Established peonies (it takes a few years) can be very pretty in the garden and still provide quite a few cuts, so they can be planted in your regular perennial beds instead of the cutting garden. And I second the fall planting of tulips and narcissus, plus alliums if you have more room. Prepare their beds well; if they are happy, they can be perennial in zone 5. Interplanting them with perennials and annuals will tend to discourage them from being perennial, so you would need to evaluate what is more important to you, having the bulbs produce well for several years or having annuals and perennials from that space. Lilies are the very best cut flowers, but put them in the sun or they'll underperform and not be worth the space they take up. And DON'T interplant them. They need all the sun they can get on their leaves to provide food their incredible performance AND store up food for next year.

Good luck, welcome, and have fun!
Jeanne

Hey Jeanne..Delphs and Peonies do great here! We do usually get some hard freezes every winter when the cold pours down the Fraser River valley from Canada. Occassionally it even comes in direct from Alaska. About every 3-5 yrs we even get a good snow storm or an ice storm. Then it goes back to the 50 degree blahs.