Specialty Gardening: What plants to use around my small patio?, 1 by wrightie

wrightie wrote:
Last year I began installing a cottage garden. I put in a small (approx. 10 sq ft) "bistro patio" last summer in the SW corner of my backyard. As things evolve, I will put in different 'garden rooms'; this is going to be one of those rooms. The photo is of the bare naked patio as taken this a.m. whilst standing in my veggie patch. I am facing East (South is toward the right side of the picture). Feeling rather non-commital at the moment, I'm thinking of putting in a border of annuals this year. Please envision yourself relaxing in a comfie chair on this patio, with your favorite drink in hand... What flowers / herbs do you see lining the patio border?

The vine on the picket fence is a young seedless concord grape. The plant on the solid fence is scarlet trumpet honeysuckle. The bed surrounding the patio is extremely narrow on three sides; I only have 8 - 10 inches to work with. Also, there is a drainage problem, so following a heavy rain this area gets standing water. Therefore whatever I plant will need to be able to tolerate wet feet *occasionally*. Hopefully, we'll resolve the drainage issue soon, but I'm not holding my breath. We would probably need to install a pump in order to make that happen.