And here's the east side.

Here is a link that might be useful: East side of house

You can grow all those you listed in your first paragraph in sun in this climate. However, the flowers and leaves of the primroses will be likely to hold up better in a shaded position.

...and the east side would be shadier, especially when the SE corner tree leafs out, in the afternoon and evening.

If your water line is 18" deep, those plants would not interfere.

For long term: It is hard to tell, but it looks like there is a tree very close to the front of the house, this could be a painting/siding issue in the future.

Also, it looks like there may be an ailanthus tree looming not too far away on the NW in a neighbor's lot. Make sure you keep all seedlings and root sproutings from this tree pulled up when very young. By the time they are a foot tall, it is apparent they are a copy of the large tree and need to be removed. They grow very fast and very far from the main tree.

bboy and larry_gene, thanks so much for your replies. This is exactly the sort of stuff all the books seem to leave out.

And yes, there are five trees on the lot (that one you see is in the back yard); the four on the public side have to go b/c they are too close to the house and/or get tangled in the power lines. (We already had one removed b/c it was growing into the sewer line.)
My DH is very sad about them; I am less so b/c I want the space for my garden.

The tree in the NW (our back yard) is a pagoda tree (Styphnolobium japonicum) which I was hoping to keep. I like the weird little seed pods it puts out. They look like translucent emerald green beads. It does make a mess of the already messy back yard, though.
You've got a very good eye!

Here is a link that might be useful: Japanese pagoda tree

Thanks. Your DH may regain the treescape by using the parking strip; there is a list of trees approved by the city. Friends of Trees organization may be of some help. Just don't put a monkey puzzle tree there!