Today I was out of bed at 7am so I could get some pre-heat wave work done in the garden. Progress was made until we had to leave at 10am. When we returned home around noon, the weather was unbearably hot and humid (for Zone 5). Siesta time! Unfortunately, I was shutdown until around 5pm. Laundry has to get done sometime I guess.

Nevertheless, here’s what was accomplished today:

• all yellowed spring bulb foliage cleaned up in south bed
• lupine deadheaded
• irises deadheaded
• arborvitae bound up to hide winter damage
• all roses fed
• front and side beds weeded
• remainder of vegetable plants put into ground
• two dahlias potted
• hollyhock thinned
• a lot of ground ivy ripped out

This morning when I awoke, I had a surprise for me in the garden. The black and white poppy I’d planted last year had bloomed. Like the white bleeding heart, this is the first season it’s bloomed on our lot. I’d been watching the pod-like shell the flower was in grow larger and larger. Sometime between last night and this morning, the pod literally popped in half and the flower unfurled. It’s absolutely lovely. I’ll name the poppy Audrey II.