Beginner Gardening: Rented a home with a neglected garden, where to start?, 1 by Auror

Auror wrote:
Hi all,

I just moved into a new place with a lot of potential to learn gardening. I've never gardened before, but I really have the urge to spruce up this place.

I've taken a picture of the flower bed on my porch. As you can see, I think it's been taken over by weeds, but I want to fill it with beautiful flowers. I've looked around on the web for a good guide to get me started, but I've only ended up more confused. I don't want to plant seeds--I'm hoping for the quicker gratification of planting fresh bulbs that will bloom before the end of the summer. But I'm not sure if it's too late in the season to do that. I'm also not sure how to handle the soil in the old flower bed. And I'm not sure whether that area would be "full sun" or "partial shade". It does get some shade from trees and shrubbery in the area, but it gets a lot of mid-day sun as well.

I guess I'm just looking for a guide that explains how to renovate an old garden by planting fresh bulbs. I'm hesitant to purchase any plants without knowing first the steps to successfully plant and fertilize, but most guides I've seen are seed-oriented or make no mention of flower beds. Any suggestions to get me started would be most appreciated.