We recently pulled several plants from our back yard. The first, in the photo called "side," once had a Chinese bellflower plant that was nice but got really overgrown and out of control. I'm thinking of putting a small raised garden there, mostly for herbs. But I'm open to other ideas too.

I need some ideas for along the back fence. There were 4 tall flowering plants there but they never did very well. As you can see, it gets nice sun (this is at about 1:30pm), but the light does tend to get blocked by our orange tree and the neighbors trees. The yard already has a lemon tree, two orange trees and a grapefruit tree, plus two dwarf pears. We're looking for some color. Must be kid and dog friendly. (I have a child with autism who tends to put everything in his mouth.)

Ideas? Thanks! Oh - this is in San Jose, CA.