Plus, most of your choices are potentially big plants, which doesn't help with a small yard. I'd stick the POB in a corner where it will be a feature. Mine blooms from May through November. In a pot you'd have to be pruning it all the time.
I've grown gingers in pots, but they need re-potting every year even in a huge pot. Couple gallons of water every day and a lot of fert. They're easier in the ground. If you have the fragrant ones, they are great right next to the door or a window so that you smell them whenever you pass.
Nibble away at the lawn, making the flower beds bigger and the lawn smaller all the time. My lawn has completely disappeared . .. !! How'd that happen??
