Advice re. plants for newly cleared border, photo attached

[FollyFaunts]

Since lockdown I've been working hard in the garden and have cleared a load of rubbishy plants from this border. It is east facing, does get some sun but not loads - in fact the shrubs still there are leaning over trying to get some more light I think! The soil is decent quality and is alkaline/normal.

Can anyone suggest plants to add a bit of structure in between the remaining shrubs, and to provide some colour for the summer?

Any advice greatly appreciated! Annuals, perennials, I don't care!

I've managed to shift the sink, (small middle aged person here too)! and have pruned the rose right down. Been looking to order some of the suggested plants but loads of them are out of stock, or people aren't delivering for weeks!

Anyone suggest who is delivering at the moment? I even went on eBay and at checkout was told none of the stuff was available, even though they had said available on the individual listings.

I just ordered from Crocus which has pretty good availability- they say the plants will arrive in 3 weeks but two my orders arrived within two and then less than one week respectively. Not the cheapest option though!

I have an east facing boarder and hydrangeas do so well in it.

I've been checking Crocus regularly but this message is constantly up on their website.

I've managed to order a few bits from various different little places but lost track of what is coming and when! Sign of the times I guess. And lots of things are out of stock or delivering in July or something.....Thank goodness for the lovely gardening weather.

@FollyFaunts - you need to get your Crocus order ready to go the night before then go through the checkout first thing. I bought some more this morning at 8am but I think they seem to reach their daily order limit around 8.30am!

Thank you for the Crocus tip. Unfortunately I've overslept

Purple and white is loosely my colour scheme too.

You could have campanula - comes in tall versions or the trailing type portenschlagia which comes in both purple and white.
Lavender - comes in varying shades of white, pink and blue to purple
Catmints
Salvias
White musk mallow is really gorgeous
Penstemons
Scented pinks/dianthus come in white
Roses
Gaura is pretty, ‘the bride’ is white, as is ‘whirling butterflies’

I have ordered loads from yougarden, there is a 21 day wait though and I will warn you although I have ordered with no problems frequently in the past and all but one of my recent orders came with no problems during lockdown I was left waiting over three weeks for one order and had to leave them a shitty review before they sent it out (all snails were ignored).
I’d still use and recommend them though, all my plants have been in good condition.

I use eBay for plants a lot too, do NOT use any sender that is using Royal Mail atm, go for a seller that uses courier like DPD, Hermes etc.

**dont mean Hermes, I meant Yodel.
Got confused there

Some great ideas here for my manky north facing bed. It's a disaster

Thanks Folly for the thread

Euphorbias have done well but I detest them and am trying to get rid! They are so invasive, but I know there are some pretty varieties.

Can I also suggest pulmonaria sissinghurst white? This looks lovely and has done well in the shade.

Hydrangeas are a good idea too I forgot they were shade loving, my border may be too dry for them though.

Sedum 'Autumn Glory' is a nice filler, very tolerant to most conditions apart from excessive clay (which you don't have a problem with).

I second hellebore and penstemon- both have loads of varieties of colour and very low maintenance.

You've done a lovely job on your border, you must be proud of yourself!

For bedding, J Parkers do fab plug plants (Geranium, Busy Lizzie, pansy)

I've ended up with a different problem - the plug plants go so far, I've run out of seedling trays. Managed to squeeze them in somehow!

I have sedum elsewhere but research tells me it needs full sun - is this another case of a plant that actually can manage in shadier locations but they don't mention it?

I've continued to work on my border, and after clearing even more out I can see that it gets a bit more sun than I thought! I will upload an updated picture.

I have loads of white mallow so will transplant some. Thanks for the prompt! And thanks for all the suggestions and recommendations for retailers, I will investigate.

Here's the border now. Sink gone, rose chopped right down (might try and move it )

Things look a bit floppy but just suffering transplant shock. The collapsed looking leaves to the right are transplanted bluebells for next year - will pull leaves off soon but handy to know where they are for the moment.

Actually the bluebell leaves are to the LEFT, and they aren't even visible in previous picture!
Couple more pictures attached

Update if anyone is interested - I found a new (to me) online supplier called Ballyrobert Gardens (don't have link but easy to google). They look very good and I've ordered some white pulmonaria and some epimedium. I will report back on this!

@buckeejit and of course now reading back again I see you recommended them anyway! When you mentioned them I googled and couldn't find them! C'est la vie !

It’s looking very neat and tidy now.