Please fence me in

The fence guy finally called, promised to come take a look at my problem, but hasn't shown up yet. I'm a little anxious about the gate not latching properly - it's currently held closed with a bungee cord - but since I have that area blocked off from the dogs, there should be no excape artists in the making.

It is still dry, and now it is going to get hot again. I try to work in the shade as much as possible. A bed next to the deck that once held some rudbekia and coneflower (in its latest incarnation) is now pea gravel except for a bit at the end that holds a daylily that needs to be relocated. I'm not really a gravel mulch person, but sometimes it makes sense. The natural gas line runs under part of this bed, so I prefer to not be digging around in it anyway.

I've also been working on clearing the bed next to the front walk. It holds a conglomeration of sedum (both tall and creeping), coreopsis (that spreads! who knew?), spring bulbs, as well as volunteer wild strawberry, violet, columbine, sea oats, yucca, plus weeds of various kinds. I was hoping the wild strawberry and violet would act as dense ground cover and choke out undesirables, but that was folly. While my usual MO is to try to save all the plants, in this bed I am yanking out almost everything. The bulbs and 'Autumn Joy' sedum will be spared, perhaps some of the coreopsis, but not the rest.

All of a sudden, the cupplant is DONE. Oddly, some of the butterflyweed is blooming again. The morning glory is doing well but its growth habit is not what I hoped for. 'Limelight' hydrangea is absolutely LOADED. The goutweed beneath it has been trampled badly by the dogs, but I don't think you can kill that stuff, as it is making a comeback. Sunflowers should be blooming soon. Occasionally, I spot a lone swallowtail or monarch or paper white, but otherwise butterflies are sadly lacking.

The 'Golden Spirit' smokebush in the front yard looks great, but it has never really "smoked". A friend who owns a nursery gave it to me. I expected it to get as big and wide as the purple leaf smokebush by the house, but apparently that is not the case. It's growth habit is much denser, it most likely will not get as big and wide as its cousin, plus the jury is out regarding whether it will ever smoke. I saw one on the Garden Bloggers Tour I attended and thought it would be a fine addition to the yard - and it is - but I probably should have researched it more carefully beforehand, so I would have known what to expect.