This year, I've been concentrating on transforming my new backyard into a native plant garden and have gotten a lot done, thanks in large part to advice from this sub. Now I'm thinking ahead to spring and my front yard, which in comparison to my backyard is much smaller, sits on the southwest side of my house (rather than the northeast), and gets a lot more sun (my backyard is shaded by a large sugar maple and an adjacent woodlot with many tall oaks and maples). I think I can come up with things to plant around the front yard in general, but I'm a bit stumped on what to do directly in front of the house (there are plants there now, but they're non-native). Are there any native plants that are particularly good for this situation and will do well planted up against the house?

I'm in zone 5b and my soil is mostly clay, though it seems to drain reasonably fast.

Thanks!

I’m looking for things like lavender and roses that don’t take huge amounts of work and come back year after year. A neighbour has some plants that seem to stay green year round, flower repeatedly and don’t grow huge, but they don’t know what plants they are. Any advice would be helpful!