My two favorite experiences right now are all about that 'first glance' in the garden. One is opening the back door in the morning to see the sun beaming upon all the flowers, and the other is walking up our stairs from the street to see the many colors that are currently along our path to the front door.
It's not done yet, and I'm still working out how to make sure there's a cool evergreen vibe in the 'off'-season to keep it attractive, but I'm pretty stoked at where we are so far. The California Lilac (ceanothus) in the foreground definitely makes a huge impact, as do the Oriental Poppies which just EXPLODED this year, surviving four different snowstorms. My Currant Bush is starting to get, well, bushy and we can't wait for the fruits on it to ripen! After that you can see the sparseness, which is the newer area where I've planted artichokes and have some California Poppies starting to bloom, along with a yet-to-bloom Bee Balm...but it's happening!
Considering the former owner had just mulch and old branches lining the path (???!!!) when we moved in, this is a big improvement...