Strike While the Ground is Rain-Softened

We had a thunderstorm and a good hour and a half of rain last night, so I thought I would weed this morning. The mulch (with newspaper under it, in many places) seems to have done its job, though, and crabgrass, violets, and sorrel are minimal. There are always a few vines -- grape, trumpet vine, morning glory, green briers, etc. -- to tug at. Amazing how they break off just above the root every time: evolution rocks.

So instead, I spent an hour or so cutting back the spirea. I tried to cut just above any new-set blooms or sprigs, but in some places I had to reduce overall size; other plants just needed dead-heading. On sides of plants that fell over after that first good rain this spring, there were dead branches, which I hope is to be expected.

Another plant that worries me is the mock orange, which has yellowing leaves on one side. Did I cut too much or the wrong bits? It's no drier than last year.

I also cut back the paprika yarrow. It had splatted open/down, but new growth showed in the middle, so I cut off all the spindly fallen stuff.

Because birds and/or squirrels will go for orange tomatoes, we've been picking nearly-ripe cherry tomatoes for about a week, now. I ate 2 last week, and last night we both had cherry tomato and basil salad with dinner.

The blackberry lily bloomed. The orange day lilies finished blooming, and the new yellow ones began just as they finished and are still going strong. I like the way they look with the purple petunias.