I live in a townhouse with no garden. What can I do? It faces south

Are you keeping those existing cannas?

I prefer flowering scrubs myself. Rhododendrons, Camelia, Hydrangea, Lilacs, Butterfly Bushes, Hardy Azaleas, hardy fuchsias. These will also ensure you have hummingbirds all year round too and butterflys. This year I've had flowers since December and the rhodies are just blooming now. You can opt to keep trimmed low, or let them grow higher for privacy, I prune 2x a year. I have a couple bird baths that also brings in lots of birds.

The space appears narrow so,the shrubs will have to be dwarf.

I agree with Janet, your bed is narrow and the soil looks a little sparse, in other words, if it were my garden, I'd be enlarging the bed and adding plenty of top soil to not only amend the soil but also raise the bed's height. You don't really say what you want to do so I'm not sure of your question but again, if it were mine, I'd probably plant a low lying hedge or individual shrubs such as Boxwood or Euonymous then plant clusters of sun loving annuals (geraniums, etc.) in the Summer. If you can afford it (they are expensive here!) buying a few substantial landscape rocks would look nice in that front left corner.

a lot depends on whether you want to spend time gardening! I love flowers but also like to travel, I do a lot with brightly coloured pots for container plantings...if I can't be around to maintain the containers, I don't plant them, but still have lots of colour year round... in your corner I would put three large ceramic pots of varied sizes/shapes (same colour) and plant annuals for summer and have strategically placed pots in other places throughout the yard. I agree that flowering shrubs provide a great 'base' for the design with little maintenance, pots can be moved into groupings in and around to soften edges/corners

Take a pic, go to local nursery for professional advise on what does well in your area. Also consider some rock garden in part.

Dee-Ann, you don't show a picture of the front of your townhouse, that is important to the plants--ie: cottage style=old-fashioned flowers, not cactus or oriental. If you get a lot of rain (Oregon or Washington?) & going by the fence style; I am thinking -(for spring) Daphne shrubs,(Summer.Fall) Azaleas & Rhododendron, (summer) Peonies--that takes care of shrubs that can give big bang. Well-placed stones highlight flowers that cascade (like petunias, lobelia)--also a good idea to talk to a garden shop & also do a lot of augmenting of the soil. Best wishes with your project.