Question
Hi there. I am trying your good self in the hope that if you are unable to help, you may guide me in the right direction, possible web sites to view or books to get, etc, although what I've read so far hasn't been very helpful to a beginner.
Here's a sort of situation update. I am attempting to inject some life and colour into what was an overgrown back garden. It is situated in the north-east of Ireland. It would work out somewhere in the region of about 10-15 sq metres, although sort of triangular in shape, the longest section being the back wall, approx 15-20 metres long. The front of the house basically faces east and in summer is sunny for most of the morning. Everything front and back  is green - there are no flowers of any kind. The house itself blocks the sun until about 1pm when the back garden then recieves the light. Unfortunately a large(tall) hawthorn hedge between properties blocks a lot of the light from about half of the back garden but it does get good heat. The rear wall has a number of 'trees' spaced along it which unfortunately appear to have been planted too close to the wall and so lean inward over the lawn. I have cut all branches and growth on these from the ground upward to about head height and they are flourishing but are very bushy with a lot of leaves and block a great deal of light from the back wall out to about 1 metre into the lawn. I don't know what they are but I would say they all lose their leaves in winter.I have cleared all of the unsightly growth along the wall and between the trunks, which are not too thick, and also removed ivy that was choking some of the trees but am now left with a long bare wall comprising mainly tree trunks and shrub stems. The garden is what I would describe as comprising thick clay/muck. When it rains,it swamps and when it's dry it cracks - although the lawn doesn't seem to mind too much (once you don't walk on it after rain) as I have an abundance of daisies particularly in the spots that get the most sun.
I know nothing about trees, shrubs, plants or their names etc but I have an idea in my head as to what I want.
Firstly, I only want to plant things that appear of their own accord every year whether it be in summer or winter. I particularly like the blues and purples but flower wise am not averse to the other colours. I do not like a lot of green as we have an abundance of it everywhere already. All the front garden needs is a flower bed but for the back, I want to put climbers all along the wall and then use a variety of flowers, both colour and height, moving nearer to the lawn and ending about 1.5 metres from the wall. Basically moving from a height of about 5-6 feet down to lawn level about 1.5 metres out from the base of the wall.
Here's where my problems arise.I am a planner, and a particularly organised person.I need to be able to find a 'list with pictures and sizes' of only the particular plants I am interested in and whether they flower in summer or winter if I am to plant balanced beds. I'll try sum up what I'm looking for:
1:Only plants that appear every year of their own accord.
2:Front garden: Small flower bed, 1m by 3.5m, max height at rear approx 60-70cm moving to ground level 1 metre out. Drainage ok.
3:Back garden: Large flower bed, approx 1.5m by 15-20 metres starting with some sort of climbers at the rear (wall is about 5-6ft tall) and moving to ground (lawn) level approx 1.5 metres from the wall. Drainage near wall ok, nearer to lawn poor. Light- nearer wall,very shady- nearer lawn, quite good.
4:I need to know only the specific plants that would have a chance in these conditions and preferably be able to see pictures of each of them for the layout plans I currently have only in my head.
  
I hope that I haven't burdened you with to much info and questions, but I'm desperate to get it right first go and I'm raring to go whilst the weather is so good.

Hoping you can help, many thanks, George.  

Answer
George,
If you are referring to the country Ireland,then I don't think I can help you in plant selection.I live in the Heartland of the US. But I can certainly guide you in the right location. Are you familiar with the Google search engine?
Just type in www.google.com and when you get to the website type in "plants that grow well in Ireland"  and then do a search for "landscape design for beginners".
this should give you all the info you need.Good luck with your garden!