What to plant?

So, the saga of Kitchenistan is long over... But as Spring approaches, there is still one aspect of our home project that requires some choices.

The new elevated patio ends with elevated planter boxes and a tall screen. Currently, as you can see from the photos, the planter boxes are just steel walls with a maze of supports and leftover construction refuse. But in the next week or so, they will have real planter box liners that will be ready for dirt and seeds.

And this is where you come in... What should we plant?

Here are some of my thoughts:

We have native prairie plants in front. A mess of columbine, compass plants, purple cone flowers (the official flower of Cook County!), and prairie blazing stars. I like them. They are colorful, attract wildlife (bees, butterflies, hummingbirds...feral cats) and require no work to speak of---and therein lies a bit of a problem as our plantings in front look a tad...disheveled? Wild? We spent a lot to build a glass wall that looks back on these planter boxes, they should look nice---can we make that happen in back?

I like the idea of raising some easy vegetables back there---particularly something like heirloom tomatoes... But I am concerned about critters having their way with the garden.

There is verticality to the back wall---I'd like something that will grow upward, but not like ivy as Jo-Elle is creeped out by creeping plants.

And there are space limitations---the entire planting area is probably two feet deep by maybe twelve feet wide (which will be broken up by 6 or so planter box inserts that go down 12 to 36 inches).

The screen is basically wood slats. There are gaps, but I do not know what light will be like. The patio in general gets a lot of light. It is on the east end of our house (with the screen at the furthest east point). So it will get some eastern light and a fair amount of southern light. But it will be in the shadow of the house for a decent chunk of the day.

The architect wanted us to plant bamboo. I liked the idea at first, but worry about our ability to manage a quickly growing plant that can overrun its containers.

I'd like something visually interesting with color and verticality.

So...all you green thumbs out there...this is what the comment feature is for...let me know what I should be planting!