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!

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

More pics

Another pic

Forgot to add-

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

What did you have in the "tan rocks" area before? Plants in pots?
Do I see stepping stones? Do they lead to something?

You may want to make your garden wider by incorporating part of the "tan rock" area into the bed.
Do you want something tallish in the corner to hide that "thing"? haha
Sorry for all the questions.

There was nothing in the tan rock area before, I like that it is there- but it was pretty plain.
There are stepping stones- they were randomly placed in the dirt area where there were lots of weeds and random stuff growing haha- it leads to nothing though.

Making it wider is definitely an idea I like, I didn't think about it, I was trying to see what would fit in the small area, but making it bigger would really be nicer looking and easier to work with.
The water hose thing is going to be moved to the very corner of the porch, behind a chair probably- unless we just hide it in the garage all together- I hate the look of it, and will probably keep it out of sight. We have it there out of pure laziness for now :p hahaha

Hey, cyrusd
I like rocks, too. I have everything from pebbles to boulders in my yard. haha
I have even saved "special" rocks from trips.

I think that fountains are pretty, but they do need attention and care (if water evaporates - motor burns up, noise, etc)
A birdbath might be simpler. Or a couple pretty, bigger rocks. haha on the rocks again!

I think you will be happy with something that is "evergreen" somewhere in your garden. That way, any season, you will have some interest there. If you want to leave the hose thing there for convenience, just put some kind of evergreen shrub there to help hide it. I don't know if you would be happy with it on the porch, either! just saying...

I am not familiar with all your plants on your "like" list. You will want to choose plants that will take the hot, dry Texas sun. Many plants that say "full to part sun" will not do well, unfortunately.
I have coneflowers in a hot, dry area and they are GREAT. You might also consider some of the ornamental grasses. Some come in more compact forms. You probably don't want anything too tall, do you?

Ohhh I didn't really think of the attention a fountain would need- we might skip that and get a bird bath instead.

Evergreen sounds nice- to atleast have something there all year- is there a site that has pictures and lists the different types you know of??

Also we don't want anything too tall since the lil porch is there and stuff.

I wouldn't necessarily forget about a fountain--they do need some maintenance (but so will the birdbath--it'll need to be refilled & cleaned too). Especially if it's a really sunny area, make sure you buy one that's got a nice big water reservoir in it, that'll keep it from drying up too quickly. I've got a couple of fountains in my yard and for the most part don't need to spend that much time maintaining them. Here's one that I have that holds a lot of water and doesn't get empty quickly: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000AIFYCQ/ref=oss_product I also have one that is similar to this one http://www.amazon.com/Hunter-Kenroy-Waterwall-Standing-Fountain/dp/B000JLC4KO/ref=sr_1_75?ie=UTF8&s=garden&qid=1274815653&sr=1-75 and it does need more attention--tends to dry out faster because there's more water flowing/splashing and the reservoir isn't that deep, so evaporation on hot days can be more of a problem.

We went to another place near our house to browse around(Texas heat cut the trip a little short :p )

We saw:
http://imagecache2.allposters.com/images/PTGPOD/GPBU01-00002064-001-FB.jpg and http://images.bidorbuy.co.za/user_images/651/390651_Lavandula_angustifolia2.jpg - Herb Lavandula

I also really like the different juniper evergreens.

So many choices :( hahaha

it's very pretty, I'm sure it will look great. I'd make the area for planting wider, also.
check out this link on evergreens

http://www.mortonarb.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=885&Itemid=6

That link is awesome Lynnie! Thanks!!

Now I have to figure out which places around here have the ones I want :p

I'm going to use yalls suggestion in making the area for planting wider- I think it'll make it better looking.

I'll let yall know what I end up getting/using- once I 100% decide :p

Cyrusd, Nandina is a nice evergreen shrub that is slow growing but carries nice color in fall with red berries. It also takes direct sun. http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&aq=1&oq=Nandina&ie=UTF-8&rlz=1T4ADSA_enUS361US363&q=nandina+bushes

cyrusd make sure you post pictures for us to see!