I'm primarily into perennials and am a bit of a collector, with ornamental grasses being my most recent addiction. I've had my on. That's Dad in his Supervisors chair, under the umbrella, shouting up orders as I slave over a hot rake and hoe. The garden style is cottage like with 8 borders and beds laid out in a double horseshoe completely surrounding the lot.
Light quality ranges from full sun to full shade.
Also the whole thing is built on quite a steep grade, so we had to build retaining walls at the bottom to level things out a little and raise the bottom areas above the spring flooding that's a yearly event. I also start hundreds of annuals in the basement under flourescents in the winter, but as I have little room now to poke them in I give most away to family. PS hope they don't take up to much space on your server.