advice on plants for lazy person-( me)

[breaghsmum]

i have a small raised plantbed that runs along the back wall of my garden and 2 years ago i planted clematis(which i love) and some small shrubby sort of plants in it. the clematis is lovely come spring and i can cope with that, pruning and what not cause its easy but the shrubby things dont seem to have done anything. in fact last year i assumed some of the were dead and pulled them out so i was just wanting some suggestions for nice things to plant that pretty much take care of themselves. i forget to do things when im supposed to. i have ds 3.5, a dog and a cat so preferably nothing that might harm them.

also, are sunflowers hard to grow and when do i plant them.?

Geraniums are good and pretty fool proof but not evergreen so they will die back in the winter.
Many flower for a long time over the summer though.
Verbena are also long flowering but need to have plenty of sun.

Sunflowers will only flower for one year. Easy to grow but if you have slugs or snails, then start in a pot and plant out when a few inches tall. They need a sunny site as well.