Welcome to the Zone! I can't begin to tell you how many perennials there are which are hardy "Zones 5-8" or "5-10". Crossing the Zone 5 threshold opens a world of possibilities! Depending on your specific location, wind exposures, or willingness to mulch heavily, you can even pull of some Zone 6-ers. I don't have much "zone envy", myself.. then again, that acanthus (bear's breeches) looks awful neat.

P.S. see the separate posting on "Chicago IS Zone 6"

And this has been a cold March! Usually we've had a few more tantalizing tastes of spring by now. Are you in the city? N/NW/S or SW suburbs? It's true that, depending where you are, you can push the zone a bit. (Motria--I've seen acanthus growing quite nicely on the city's northwest side.) Your blank slate sounds like fun. Welcome.

We'll be in the near west suburbs and the "new yard" consists of the following: 2 concrete slabs (in addition to the garage) on which to park cars - concrete will be going away soon, a privacy fence that goes from the back alley down the side yard to the front of the house - 1/2 of it's going away soon, a disintegrating wooden shed right at the front of the house/just inside the part of the privacy fence that's going soon and the shed's going soon. The movers bring our stuff on 3/31 and I am going to have to fight the urge to grab the shovels and axes and also to hand my spouse the sledgehammer until we get rid of a few boxes. Creating gardens and prepping the soil will be the first project. At least it'll be a good motivator to get out of cardboard! More importantly, we have more outdoor months than we used to! I can't wait!

Hmm. You have an alley. (So do I.) I'm wildly guessing you're in the Oak Park/River Forest/Berwyn/Westchester area. I hear the Oak Park conservatory is pretty nice, and if you haven't been to the Garfield Park conservatory...well, you should. I live in the near north suburbs, so I don't know exactly what your soil conditions will be (assumedly you won't be gardening in sand like I do), but late March/early April is a nice time to be moving in. You'll be settling in as the trees start budding out (or maybe you'll get a snowstorm--this is Chicago, after all). Maybe your yard will reveal a few pleasant surprises beyond the hosta and 10 tulips. The other western suburbanites will be your best source here for finding resources, but I do know that the western suburbs (I'm thinking Naperville area) have some really nice nurseries. That Growing Place and Planter's Palette come to mind, but I know there are others as well. By the way, there is a Chicago gardening magazine you may find at your local newsstand. It's not even half-bad.

Kec01;

Save that slab of concrete- maybe they can "cut" it into
nice squares, or rectangles, you can use it for making a wall or stepping stones, etc.