Couldn't be more, or less as the case may be, green

I don't know the first thing about gardening. You could say I am gardening illiterate. I moved last year to a new house from a town home and am more than embarrassed at how awful the front of my house looks, especially compared to all of my neighbors. This year, I want to get it right. I want to do something so that I don't have the ugliest shrubs with no flowers anywhere in sight. I want to be proud of my flowers and myself. BUT, I don't even know where to begin. Not a clue. I can't just go pick out stuff and plant it because I will kill it. I bought a planter for the steps last year and the flowers in it died within days. How do people do it? I'll attach a picture of my house here. You'll notice the complete opposite of lawn beauty. The "soil" under those god-forsaken bushes appears to be rocks. I live in NE Illinois about halfway between Chicago and Milwaukee. Please, I beg you, help me! You can't say anything that comes even close to dumbing it down too much. I am handicapped and want flowers and shrubs like the rest of the neighborhood seems to make come so easily. Oh, and, I'm on a budget. Figures, right?

siouxIL, the first thing you would need to do is find out the average local temperature range which is referred to as "hardiness zone." Gurnee is in zone 5a, one zone colder than Hopkinton, MA where I live so I'm familiar with plants that grow at your temperature. The second thing to do is find out the average annual precipitation which is about 35 inches at Gurnee:

http://www.usa.com/gurnee-il-weather.htm

Those are your parameters. You will be tempted to get plants outside of your hardiness zone and that need more rain or much less rain, but I strongly advise you not to get any plants outside those parameters. Gardening will be much easier and about 90% less expensive if you stay within those basic limits. Another thing is to figure out a watering method (hand watering, drip line, etc.) taking into account that you will probably be away or experience family emergencies, so make this as easy as possible.

You mentioned you wanted flowers. There are many shrubs that produce flowers for 4+ months like Quickfire hydrangea, knockout roses, cape diamond rose, and bloom-a-thon azaleas, however, they lose their leaves in the winter. For evergreen color 365 days a year I suggest boxwoods and yews which tend to withstand more snow than thujas. We have emerald green thujas but the severe repeat snow storms of last winter almost destroyed them, so they will have to go.

Since you're on a budget I suggest going to local big box home improvement stores and nurseries for shrubs where you get bigger plants for significantly less cost than mail-order. Look at the mature size of all plants and get a size appropriate for the garden space. We had a yew that is actually a tree that grows to about 60 ft. and it was in a 2-ft. space so after repeat pruning most of the tree was bare branches therefore it had to go. Our neighbor is growing a 10-ft. hydrangea tree in a 2-ft. space so it branches out 6 ft. into our yard.

And finally, put plants in the appropriate sun/shade area. For example, almost all conifers prefer full sun but some hostas look best in full shade. I've found it's easiest to focus on creating one or two gardens at a time. It's better to spend the year creating one excellent garden in a corner of the yard than trying to do too much and not having enough time to carefully research every plant and plan appropriately.

As the temperatures warm the lawn will begin to recover. It will need some fertilizer to do so.
Look at a fertilizer label. There are 3 numbers. They are the amounts of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium.
Lawns need a lot of nitrogen, a moderate amount of phosphorus and somewhere in between amount of potassium. Around here, 21-7-14 is a good ratio. Ask at a reputable nursery if your local soils tend to be low in any particular nutrient, and what is a good fertilizer for your soils. Water it in well.

To grow flowers in a container or the soil they need a balance of air and water in the soil. When they are small, just purchased, the roots are no larger than the container they came out of. You need to keep this area moist, but no soggy wet. How often to water is easy to tell if you stick a freshly sharpened pencil in the soil. If it is wet enough the new wood on the pencil will get dark. If it is getting dry it will be sort of blotchy. This is a good time to water, before it gets too dry.

To perk up a landscape on a budget, I would try to keep existing plants and add some nice plants in a few focal points, such as around the mailbox,the lamp or near the front door.
Perhaps something like this:
Follow the shape of the entry walk with a band of flowers.
Add a circle around the lamp post, if it is far enough away from this band (difficult to see in the pic. A similar band around the mailbox.
Since these will be watered with the lawn make sure the flowers you select are OK with this. Do not water the lawn too frequently, it will grow better if it gets some deep soaks then is allowed to dry out some between watering. (I have no idea how much rain you get during the summer- perhaps the rain is enough for the lawn? Talk to some local experts)
A container on the porch is optional, and will need hand watering.

And don't be afraid to talk to your neighbors, especially the ones whose gardens you enjoy. Most people don't mind a compliment, so then you're free to ask something. I would focus on one plant at a time, at the neighbor's, just so you don't overwhelm yourself. Which, in the end, virtually every gardener ends up doing. Find out if the plant you're asking about, assuming it's not a tree or shrub, is perrenial or annual or biennial; find out if/how they water and how much how often. You might ask if they know if the plant grows in more, or less, sun than they have.

And any other questions you think might stump you if you decide to try the same plant. And you don't need to wait 'til you find the neighbor in the garden; ring some doorbells!

I hope you have fun.

Here is a sketch.

Nothing to add except wherever you want to plant, make sure you prepare the soil well in advance of purchasing any of your desired plants, I've witnessed more dying plants left sitting in pots awaiting the owners planting them, and the owners usual excuse is, they have not picked or dug the spot for the plants YET !!!!.

The best thing to do is visit the local library or book store to look through some books re plants that suit your area AND how to prepare the soil for those you like. These books all have nice pictures and named plants too.
Lastly, try to make the job FUN, there is no point getting stressed and get worked up IF you loose a plant, everyone has to start somewhere and we have all learned by our own mistakes, still make them now and again and still learning new things about gardens and plants.
Try enjoy your little piece of heaven as it is yours, you have free range (within reason) and there is always people on this site to give you help and confidence, so just enjoy.
Good luck and Kindest Regards
WeeNel.

WeeNel is exactly right: Soil prep is very important, and is a good reason to start on small areas. If you start with a few bags of soil conditioner and dig it in by hand you will soon decide that small areas are plenty of work.
Use the garden hose to lay out curved areas so they end up symmetrical. Circles are really round, and curves are smooth.
If you know you will be planting right away (few days or a week) then mix in some slow release fertilizer.
When the area is ready, go get the plants.

You guys are awesome and so kind. This is all very overwhelming. I was talking about my dilemma with some friends at work and one of my co-workers said she'll even come over to help me. This is all a great start. I love it all. Diana_K, the sketch you made it great. A lot of my neighbors have something similar along the walkway. We all have that same lamp in the yard and a number of people have gardens extending from the porch all the way to include the lamp.

So, I'll see if I can have my friend give me some digging advice and get the areas ready where we want to plant. Then, I'll plant something appropriate. If I don't fail miserable, maybe I'll have something to show you guys in June!

I will be looking forward to some pictures!

Siuox21, it's very true that, no matter where in the world you may go, somewhere you will find a gardener lurking about in the greenery, ready to share their hints and tips, never ask what plants you want to try unless you have a whole weekend to sit, listen and be greatful you passed that way.
Honestly, Gardening gets into your bones and after around 50 years, I still learn new things from other gardeners. as well ask getting help / advice on this site, I do believe many members have struck up long standing friendships.

What other hobby can you say all that about.
Please dont stress, gardening is NOT a competition, there are no exams, only joy when things work out well, some hard work at times AND a road to learning.
have fun, take your time and stay in touch when you need any help, thats what the site is all about.
Kindest Regards.
WeeNel.