Perennials that don't lean - recommendations please.

I've got an east facing border that I've been trying to get right over the last couple of years. The border gets sun until about 3.00pm and has well draining sandy soil with added organic matter. I've got some Nepeta, Sesleria and Hakonechloa in the border which are doing well. However, in an attempt to get more colour, I have tried Lupins, Heleniums and Geums which all have a natural tendency to lean towards the sun. The Nepeta doesn't do this to a noticeable extent, nor does Erigeron karvinskianus which I have elsewhere. I've just got one space to fill. My other options are a Phormium or fern or another grass but I'd prefer something that flowers. Would a shrubby Salvia work perhaps? Are there any suitable perennials that don't lean that you can recommend please?

 

I always thought that tall plants/flower spikes leaning away from the back of a border was due to downdraughts of wind caused by the fence/wall, shorter or more woody/rigid plants being unaffected.
If you're sure it's sun they're leaning for, maybe try plants that need less of it.

 

I grow Hellebores, Foxgloves, Polemoniums, Dicentras, Camassias and lots of lower growing stuff like geraniums, convallaria and primulas in east facing sites. I also have day lilies, but they're potted just now as I moved them from another site. Fennel also grows there in the sunniest part.
Some of those may not suit your soil though.

 

Hello @JennyJB, no it's not the downdraught as there's a large Camellia between the border and the fence and they get a battering from the front too! Do you have any perennials that need less sun perhaps, as I know you have similar soil?

 

Thank you @fairygirl, those are possibilities but mainly spring flowerers I think. Camassias won't grow here, much to my disappointment! I have fennel elsewhere which might work so I might give that a try.

 

I don't really have much east-facing planting space.

In my north-east-facing border (yellow/white/blue theme, mostly) I have acanthus (tends to spread though) some hemerocallis, solomon's seal, pulmonarias, brunneras, a white fuchsia (I suppose that's really a shrub but it adds good height), some Aconitum napellus which does lean away from the fence, some white tall phlox which is staked, Cephalaria gigantea which isn't. And several of the things that @fairygirl mentioned.
Edit: I have several shrubs in that border too - a tall philadelphus, yellow choisya, variegated euonymus, Jasmine "Fiona Sunrise" which doesn't flower much but has bright foliage, winter jasmine, and an elderly laburnum tree that I think is on its way out. Tall perennials in front of the shrubs still get pushed forward by the wind if I don't stake them.

I have a North-facing border and the thing that most surprises me by how well it does there is Persicaria "Red Dragon".

 

I also have Helianthus "Lemon Queen" and Aster "Little Carlow" (yes I know it's technically not Aster any more) in the pointy corner between the north-east facing fence and the adjoining one which is south-ish but close so no sun after mid-afternoon. The aster is staked though. And I have a shrubby salvia "Lavender Dilly Dilly" silly name in front of a big-ish Fatsia that's against the east-facing wall of the house, in shade from early afternoon. A lot of my shrubby salvias are in pots against the west-facing side of the house so no sun until lunchtime-ish, and they seem to be fine there.

 

My east facing sites are mainly shrubs too. I have lots of Aquilegias which I've been growing from seed, and some will go in there. I grow William Guinness in quite shady sites [north and north west facing] so it would be fine in an east facing site, but I'd think most varieties of those would be happy.

 

Thank you @JennyJB, that's very helpful. Lots of choices, I may need to extend the border now! I think a Fuchsia or shrubby Salvia are good possibilities. Interesting about your Persicaria, I'm trying Fat Domino (another silly name!) elsewhere which supposedly likes moist soil but it's doing well so far.

 

I have the same problem in parts of my south-facing garden.
I think often the cause is soil that is too fertile, so the plants grow quite fast and can become a bit leggy as they search for the sun.
I think the shrubby salvias would work - I had one for many years and thanks to its woody frame, it didn't lean. It died after a very wet winter a year or so ago.
Another one that works for me are the hydrangea paniculatas.
Again they have a woody frame that I prune back to each year that stops them leaning.
Perennial phlox also works well.

Hydrangea Vanille Fraise and a perennial phlox.

 

I forgot the Aquilegias @fairygirl . They are self-sowers here and I mostly treat them as biennials, same as foxgloves, honesty, forget-me-nots etc. There are usually some of all those in the shadier areas as well in the sunnier places, but not so many.

@Pete8 your hydrangeas look lovely. Sadly they don't do well here, the soil is just too dry for them. "Too fertile" is certainly not an issue on this soil!

 

Thank you @Pete8. I have a couple of Hydrangea Limelights nearby but they'll need a bit more space in this border. I'd photograph the border but it's another day of heavy rain and wind here today! Your endorsement of the shrubby Salvia is leading me to putting that on the top of the list!

 

Best of luck!
I came across a very informative article about pruning hydrangea paniculata to a certain size and I've followed that advice for years.
Basically, once the plant has a sturdy frame prune back to that each year then they'll not grow significantly bigger.
The ones above are about 15 yrs old and I keep them to the same size using this method.
Limelight is a relative of Vanille Fraise

See P 4-5 for pruning
https://www.rhs.org.uk/plants/pdfs/plant-trials-and-awards/plant-bulletins/hydrangea-paniculata.pdf

 

What about astrantia? I have some East facing and mine don't lean. Some of the shorter ones might work?

 

Thank you @Pete8, yes, you very kindly sent me that link in GW Forum days and I found it very helpful! I've now got mine as short woody frameworks which suit the space and position in my garden.