Landscaping ideas!!

This area is right in front of our house. I can not put mulch down (only pee gravel) because It is low so when it rains water stays for a bit and the mulch covers the walkway. I have tried "monkey grass" along the concrete but it gets so thick it won't let water run off concrete. It gets full sun until about 3pm. Most of the flowers are dead because we were gone for a week and they did not get watered. I have a black thumb so it would need to be hearty. We have lived here for 15 years and I have never had any luck making this look pretty. ANY IDEAS WOULD BE APPRECIATED!!

I would sure like to see some pictures of the area, from several angles, if possible.

If you could measure the area and draw it on a sheet of graph paper that could help, too.

I just sent two pictures. (I can't download from house, have to go into town)
I will get a different angle and dimensions and download later today.
Thanks!

Here are the pictures.

The part closest to the pool is
31'x7'
The smaller one, which has towels hanging, is
12'x7'
Pictures are to follow.

Fix the drainage issue, then worry about planting.

1) Dig down, remove the soil until the area is about 4" deeper below the concrete.
Then you can mulch a couple of inches without it floating back onto the concrete.

2) Add drainage, either perforated pipe, channel drain or several drain inlets next to the concrete. It has to drain somewhere. Is there somewhere down hill from this area? If not, then you will need a much more expensive system, a sump pump.

3) You could make a mound out of the soil you remove. This will help the plants you try to plant in this area, most plants are not going to like being kept so moist, possibly submerged. Caution: a mound will make more water run toward the concrete.

Here are a few more pictures.

Not the solution you likely want, but I would expand the space by adding matching stonework to that pretty stone you already have.. effectively expanding the useful patio space since you have the pool there. Half sun half shade under the roof. Set on the new patio a large colorful pot big enough to house a small tree that does well in your climate. A little two seater table... a fire pit ...
Construct pretty bamboo drying rack for the towels..on one side with a few planting shelves for annuals.

Thanks for your comments!!
Before we did the flagstone we did put perforated pipe in the drains down the hill.
After a HEAVY rain the water stays around for about an hour where as before the water would stay for a day or so.
Be in the water stayed around for any amount of time the mulch still floated and moved to the flagstone.

Yup, that is what I would do because you have the entire grassed area to landscape if your fingers want to dig and mulch and make things grow. Do deer creep out of those woods and come to graze?

Where would you expand the flagstone?
Start at the pool and go about halfway down the long area?
Or would you cover the whole long area with the flagstone?
(The leg of the flagstone that goes nowhere is supposed to go the entrance to the deck that we want to put around the pool.)
And can you explain the "planting shelves"?
Thanks!

Maybe 'expand' a poor choice of my wording since I don't mean expand further into the green grassy area. I meant fill in those graveled areas where no plant wants to thrive. You wouln't need to pull existing flagstone up since it is random placement. This way you will have a bigger sunny patio space and no planting problems to deal with.

This is Daves Garden and so I thought if you have an itch to plant that need scratching ...landscape the grassy area with native things...some birdhouses on tall poles...a birdbath...something artsy mixed in with the landscaping you choose.

What I meant by the bamboo ( doesn't have to be bamboo was trying to think of something that could manage wet things hung on it strength wise and water resistant wise ) was a structure to specifically hold the pool towels. I may be a little too OCD but if I am going to hang towels -- I want the place they hang to scream " I am designed for towels and proud of it " and so i would construct a short 6-8 foot fence ...cemented in on each side ..... With metal, bamboo, wire, chain "poles" strung between the two post sides......or if you want some privacy -- lattice painted a pretty color with the towel hooks or bars attached and facing the pool ...and on the back of it would put planter noxes for annuals ( that side would face the road ) or I would hang potterynon it or something!!! Maybe even put some sort of bench seat running along that fence ( pool side) with a lid that lifts to house pool chemicals or pool floats so those drying off can sit while drying feet.

If an open fence ( like a rail design ) on one corner of it I would put a structure / something to hold annuals since the fence would be mostly left open for the drying towels... Like this ( I made from a premade wooden stair stringer and planter boxes. The stringer was $ 11 and some paint. The boxes cost.. Home depot - resin.