Need some ideas for front of house
 

We ripped out all of the wild ugly stuff in the front of our porch- now we need some ideas of what to put there.
My girlfriend and I have no green thumbs between the two of us- but want to learn!

This spot gets pretty a good amount of sun in the evening, I live in Garland Tx so it gets pretty hot as well.

We really have no clue what we should do with the front of the house- we drove around tons of neighborhoods around us to find ideas and nothing really appealed to us.
I really want to get rid of the tan little rocks we have and get 1 solid darker color, either a black or a dark gray.

Anyone have any suggestions???
We were also thinking about a fountain or something of some sort.


A few things we liked when we were wandering around a few places:

Golden Shrimp Plant - http://www.bloominbert.com/plant%20pics/p36-golden-shrimp-plant.jpg

Persian Shield - http://www.friendsschoolplantsale.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/persian-shield.jpg

Cordyline Australis - http://www.jungleseeds.com/images/CordylinePurpurea.jpg

Cone Flowers - http://www.youcanlearnseries.com/Landscape/Images/PurpleConeflowers-32.jpg

President hibiscus - http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2613/3976104184_cf7159cbe0.jpg

Husker red beardtongue - http://www.ag.ndsu.edu/hort/info/perennials/maltese/pensthus.JPG

Maui red ixora - http://www.foxhillnursery.net/ALLPRODUCTS/PLANTS/LANDSCAPEPLANTS/LANDSCAPEPLANTPICS/IxoraPics/IxoraMauiRed.JPG

Texas sage silverado - http://bexar-tx.tamu.edu/HomeHort/F1Column/2006%20Articles/Silverado%20Texas%20Sage.jpg

Passion flower blue crown - http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_lq42-S0byeU/Sd1batJ04AI/AAAAAAAABgY/_j4sPY_8zXE/s400/passion+flower.jpg



Here are some photos of the area:
http://img101.imageshack.us/img101/9090/front1l.jpg
http://img59.imageshack.us/img59/4706/front2r.jpg
http://img641.imageshack.us/img641/8583/front3.jpg

How do you feel about native growth? I have a bunch of wild flowers and cacti out front of my place and I love it.

Some wild flowers and cacti look really nice- do you have any pics??

I'm looking, I'm at work and I don't have my pics on this comp.