I'd try heuchera. I seem to remember it being almost a sun plant that can tolerate shade as opposed to a shade plant. If it is in too much shade here, it dies out.

Seven arrows farm in attleboro/seekonk sells goji berries. The infotag of the plant says it tolerates full sun and will sprawl/act as a groundcover. Plus yummy berries.

Carex/Japanese sedge grass tolerates sun altho' it's marketed as a shade perennial. I planted a border of it along the curved edge of a bed between divisions of Alchemilla mollis/lady's mantle. Neither have suffered from afternoon sun but it's dappled for a few hours thanks to shade from a mature tree.

Take a look at Dianthus/carnation. They're perennial, low-growing, sun tolerant and care/maintenance-free.

The Stokesia I grew from seed via winter sowing is well-behaved & is apparently happier growing in part sun at the edge of a concrete walkway on the north side of my garden than it is in an east-facing part sun bed.

I'm not sure if by compact you just mean short or if you also mean that it won't wander or spread as well. Also, what width are you interested in and how hardy does it have to be (generally where are you located?)

Full sun plants that are short and don't wander in my garden include
- Iberis sempervirens/perennial candy tuft - in a previous garden I had a shorter than usual type that was wonderful (though I can't find the variety name), but even the regular height varieties would be fine
- Campanula 'Blue Clips' and 'White Clips' and check out C. 'Samantha' if you can find it.
- Tunica saxifraga AKA Petrorhagia saxifraga looks almost like a petite baby's breath. I grew the double form which is light pink.
Some that wander a bit for me but are easy to keep in check:
- Veronica 'Georgia Blue'
- Some of the low growing smaller Geraniums like G. 'Orkney Cherry' (though it may grow more vigorously where it's happier) and G. lancastriense.
- Dianthus is a genus that has some that are more compact and some that are more vigorously spreading.
- Wooly thyme if you have a dry area or some of the shorter ornamental thymes
- Some of the smaller Sedums like 'Dragon's Blood'.
- Alchemilla erythropoda, dwarf lady's mantle, which may be fine full sun since I find recommendations for full sun to full shade, and I can testify that it isn't happy in full shade in my garden.

Sedges will vary a lot in size and how much they wander since it's a wide-spread genus. I've found 'Ice Dance' to be a spreader.

I really like stachys 'Helen von Stein' (lambs ear), geranium 'Biokovo', liriope 'Big Blue' as low edgers for lots of sun.

I have stachys 'helen...',several kinds of sedum, and heuchera 'obsidian'. All are doing well in the hot afternoon sun until sunset. They are also OK as the days shorten.

trying to eliminate a double post and I can't

This post was edited by franeli on Thu, Jul 3, 14 at 12:45

I also love Tunica saxifraga (Petrorhagia saxifraga), but it's a fairly short-lived plant and not very easy to find. Thanks for reminding me about it, though, because I really miss having it in my garden and don't see any this year. I've had it self-sow, but mainly into the brick patio and paths, where it doesn't exactly look its best.

It has gorgeous very light bright green foliage, and looks good pretty much all the time - highly recommended as a low border plant, if you can find it and if you have the right conditions, which it sound like you do.

I also love pig squeak, Bergenia cordifolia, which is compact and yet ... somewhat dramatic. Not everyone likes the way it looks, but it's certainly interesting. I have it along a brick path that edges a parking spot (gravel) next to the road, and it seems to tolerate all the bad stuff that comes its way - salt, drought, random gravel, and complete neglect.

I guess it depends on what sort of color and texture will complement the rest of the bed. I like to contrast textures, so my bergenia is in front of a mixed bed containing a silver conifer that is dominated by caryopteris, which is also feathery and silvery. The glossy red-tinged leaves definitely provide a contrast in both texture and color.

I have a low, silvery dianthus - cheddar pink, I think - on one side of a compact, dark green, glossy boxwood hedge, and I like that combination. On the other side I have species huechera, which also looks nice, but gives completely different effect.

That sounds so pretty, Digging! Any chance you can post pics?