Beginner Gardening: Overwhelmed Beginer, 1 by Soletude

Soletude wrote:
Overwhelmed beginner

I want to transition my 40 sq ft. garden from mostly annuals to mostly perennial but I get so overwhelmed!! I can’t decide what plants to select and I’m having a hard time visualizing the plant combinations. Plant pictures I see on the internet are close-ups of the bloom and not the whole plant. Harder part is selecting the plants that would go well next to Gladiolus.

As you can see from my picture there is no rhyme or reason to the selection of plants in my 2009 garden. The gaps you see were filled in with Coleus and Marigolds. I want fullness and color. I would like to keep the Glads as the backdrop.

I have looked at sites that have pre-planned gardens but I’m turned off by how tall the plants get. I would like the plants to gradually go from a few inches along the front to half the height of the Galds.

Any suggestions???