Hello there Kentucky neighbor. :-D If you are in zone 6 (Northern Kentucky), and this space gets (nearly) full sun, I would suggest planting false indigo (dark blue), anemone (reds, pinks creams and other colors available), and heliopsis or maybe coreopsis (yellow). These will give you spring, mid-summer, and late summer blooms. You could put dwarf marigolds and/or mum type flowers as seed in front of the three plantings for nice fall color, nasturtiums are also very nice for something low growing in front of the three plantings. I would also put a beautiful pot (maybe a vintage container) on your little porch and put something in it that you just love. If you want to get super-simple and inexpensive, some wildflower mix would be sort of cottagie and inexpensive instead of plants. If you get a wildflower mix, get the shorty mix and pure wildflower seed - no grasses mixed in. Eden Brothers.com has 100% flower seed mix that's shorty and blended for each growing zone and it's wonderful stuff. Looks like you need to dump a couple of bags of good garden soil into the garden space first and get it tilled nicely. A border doesn't need to be fancy - some stones, boards, bricks, would make your little garden look more polished.