I have a couple of flower beds in front of my house.
One had a huge jasmine and honeysuckle that grew up to the bathroom window,
but we have cut it right back and it looks like we may have killed the
jasmine off. The honeysuckle is looking like it may recover.

Other than that, the beds are covered in weed blanket and bark chippings,
with a few flowering plants (primulas and cyclamen, mostly) cut through it.

Then right against the wall are some (rather ugly, I have to say) little
troughs with spring bulbs starting to break through. Of course, the troughs
are a lovely haven for slugs and snails.

I did try lemonbalm geraniums, but they've not really taken.

The main problem is that the front of the house rarely gets sunlight. It's
north facing and only gets about 2 hours direct sunlight during the sunniest
days of summer. And although it's a bit cold and damp, the soil also gets
very dry, due to the house!

It doesn't really seem to be ideal for growing /anything/.

(my neighbour has a huge hydrangae, which grows well, but I'm not a fan of
them. The rest of the neighbours seem to have bricked over the front and
put large pots out instead)

So ... any suggestions for what would like the somewhat un-flower-friendly
beds in front of my house that would make it look a little prettier?