FLOWERS!!!

My flowers are blooming! I love perennials. I plant them once, and they keep coming back. I really have no idea how you can justify buying any other kind of plant when these exist. Who wants to plant the same flowers year after year after year? I would much rather plant once and enjoy forever.
When I first bought this townhouse the previous owner had a different idea about "perennials." I guess he took the idea of plant once and enjoy forever a little too literally, because I am pretty sure the shrubs had not been trimmed. Ever. They grew so huge that they covered an entire sidewalk and additional flower bed that I did not know existed.
To help illustrate my point I made a pretty picture for you.
Here is the before:

And here is the after (NOT my woodie van):

Well, Sparky hooked a chain around each one, hooked them up to his cargo van (classy) and pulled them out. Three dump truck loads later... I had a workable space.
(Please ignore my recycling bins, I am just glad Sparky remembered to set them out on the correct week. Also, unless you want to pick my weeds for me, don't look at them either. And that small thing centered between the two closest arbors is actually a plant. It is supposed to be a hydrangea bush.)

The only plant (other than the arborvidi) that I kept was this strange looking thing. It is weird in the winter when it is naked, but looks really cool this time of year: