After a wet spring with moderate temperatures, the heat of the last few days has seemed to shock the grass, but so far the garden is holding its own. A very brief, early morning thunderstorm brought little relief, as it was more thunder than rain.

Several perennials await planting.  There are three lovely yellow-pink, peachy Yarrows for height in the back border. There are also five Verbena bonariensis, which are planned for the meditation circle.

Spruced up the garden for a few hours this morning, trying to shape and edit along the way.

• Trimmed back Tradescantia (Virginia Spiderwort) that had grown too tall in front of the borders and had expanded into too much of the midsection.
• Cut back the iris stalks, but kept the leaves to die back naturally.
• Removed some large branches from a Buddleja davidii ‘Black Knight’ (Butterfly Bush) that did not get its proper trim back in February. It was overshadowing the recently added Gaura.
• Pruned back the Iceberg Rose that had bloomed so well this spring. Suddenly it looked completely spent.
• Trimmed the Meadow Sage by half to encourage new blooming. Pulled up stray Rose Campion and Stachys(Lamb’s Ears) in the side path to open up the path again.
• Cut back the blooms on many of the Stachys, but left as many for the bees which were enjoying them so much.

As always, there is more to do tomorrow.