Neither of those links worked for me but I was able to look at some of the stuff at the bhg site to get some idea of what was in the plans. I think the first thing you need to think about is what exactly do you mean by low maintenance? All gardens have maintenance in some degree. Perennials, even relatively low maintenance ones, will need deadheading and varying degrees of tidying up, division in future years and so forth. Why are you focused on perennials? (vs. evergreens for example) For the flowers/color? Would annuals in front of smaller evergreens work better? Annuals would give you color; would still need some maintenance re deadheading; but are simpler in that you just rip them out at frost and start over next year so you don't have to learn as much plant-specific long term care. Perennials are certainly rewarding and are my favorite plants but annuals may offer an easier introduction to growing flowers if you're new at it and uncertain about it.

I think most people think perennials are easier because they 'come back every year' whereas annuals die and have to be replaced. But, perennials have their share of work, and are probably not any less maintenance than planting annuals every year. On the other hand, I love shrubs, either evergreen (the lowest maintenance, IMHO) or deciduous, mostly because they stick above the ground in the winter and you can tell what is a weed when it comes up! haha

I would choose several shrubs (lots are flowering, even the evergreen kind), and plant according to tall ones in the back to lower in the front (check your tags) and be sure you mulch around the shrubs to keep those weeds at bay. You can fill in with annuals for more flowers, if you choose. One last tip: plant several of each (like they do on the BHG plans) so you will get a 'drift' of flowers. And don't plant too close - again, check the tags.

Hope this helps. Good luck!

Anything with that much color and texture will become a focal point, and do you really want this corner to be a focal point?

We don't know anything else about your site, but if the corner is sunny and ugly, then why is it that way? Is there a lack of water, traffic, or maintenance? Grass maybe a more useful option, but without any more context, like front yard or backyard, any suggestion may not be very useful.

See link below to the referenced website.

Here is a link that might be useful: Referenced garden plan

The reason the addresses and link don't work is that each one has a space in the middle of the address. Sometimes that happens when the original address that was copied was spread over more than one line.

Try these:

http://www.bhg.com/gardening/plans/easy/beginner-garden-for-full-sun/

http://www.bhg.com/gardening/plans/easy/corner-garden-plan-of-perennials/

We don't know what kind of a corner this is (does it back against the angle made by the front porch and garage? a fence? the sidewalk and driveway? the neighbor's hedge and the street?), but like some of the other posters I'd certainly consider evergreens as a backdrop.

In my opinion, I think those people that do those drawings of a perennial garden with everything in bloom should be taken out and shot. Perennials generally are at peak bloom for only a few weeks. If the plants chosen have staggered bloom times then the garden never matches the drawings. It becomes a drawn out display with only a plant or two in bloom while the rest of the bed looks bad. If you are skilled enough in gardening to select and grow plants to bloom together you get a spectacular month ...followed by 11 months of ugly.

If your passion is not gardening, you got some good advice from the posts above.

Right, I think beginners--and I was one once, and am still learning tons and needing room to make big mistakes with plants--don't yet know a lot about the definitions and categories of plant materials and so perennial is more of a concept of "all the time" and not really understanding how plants and shrubs live and bloom.

So, good advice above. Find yourself a book or 2 about "low maintenance gardening" and it will talk more about shrubs and groundcovers, and what makes stuff low maintenance or not--not all shrubs are low maintenance, for example.

For a corner - what about three conifers - a pyramid or upright, a sphere (mugo, globe arborvitae, globe blue spruce...), and a rectangle or ground hugger (creeping juniper, bird's nest sruce...). Pyramid/upright at the back and the other shapes forward.

For relatively carefree infill, if wanted - sedums are a nice texture contrast with flower heads that carry into the fall. Peonies with their brief but brilliant bloom have the benefit of nice foliage until they're cut down in the fall.

If the amount of space you're giving this corner is known, check out the Conifer forum. Ask for recommendations for sun loving dwarf varieties, keeping in mind that these could require some maintenance - like an hour's worth with a good pruner maybe once a year.

I don't know, but BHG and HGTV seem to be more geared towards "designed to disappoint" - especially to the novice gardener who's hopes are high.