Planting summer flowers for the first time. Please Help!!?

My husband and I are in the process of redoing our lawn (new grass). We decided we wanted to do a small garden and plant some flowers. The flowers we want planted in the front of the porch to bring some color to the house. The problem I have is our porch is long and it would take lots of flowers to cover. I picked up some assylum but when I got home and read up on them they need sun. We don't get a lot of sun in that area where I want the flowers. Are there any bright flowers (preferably yellows pinks and purples) that can thrive without a lot of sunshine?