diff --git a/DESIGN.md b/DESIGN.md
index 0920f13..3d975c7 100644
--- a/DESIGN.md
+++ b/DESIGN.md
@@ -129,7 +129,7 @@ React 19 + TypeScript + Vite + Tailwind 4 (`@tailwindcss/vite`), `@tanstack/reac
 
 - **Routes:** `/login`, `/register`, `/gardens` (list), `/gardens/:id` (editor, `?focus=objectId`), `/plants` (catalog). Auth guard on the router root via `/auth/me`.
 - **State:** TanStack Query for all server state (editor keyed on `gardens/:id/full`; optimistic mutations with version-conflict rollback). One small Zustand store for ephemeral editor state only: viewport, selection, focused object, active tool, in-flight drag, and the mobile `mode`.
-- **Mobile-first editor: one primary mode (#99).** On a phone the canvas is the whole screen; a bottom mode bar switches which tools dock beneath it — **Fixtures** (the object palette), **Plants** (shown once a bed is focused; focusing a bed puts you in this mode — a "Recent" strip of what you've most recently planted *in this garden* (#100, derived from plantings, not the manual tray) for one-tap re-arming, the seed tray, the picker, and a clump/rows **fill** control that runs the region fill (#77) the UI couldn't reach before), **Journal**, **Assistant** (the last two open the rail sheet; Assistant is hidden with no model). This replaces the old phone layout where a stacked control column shoved the garden into a corner. Desktop keeps its side-column layout (the mode bar is `md:hidden`) and treats `mode` as an inert hint. History stays reachable as a rail sub-tab rather than a fifth primary mode.
+- **Mobile-first editor: one primary mode (#99).** On a phone the canvas is the whole screen; a bottom mode bar switches which tools dock beneath it — **Fixtures** (the object palette), **Plants** (shown once a bed is focused; focusing a bed puts you in this mode — a "Recent" strip of what you've most recently planted *in this garden* (#100, derived from plantings, not the manual tray) for one-tap re-arming, the seed tray, the picker, and a clump/rows **fill** control that runs the region fill (#77) the UI couldn't reach before), **Journal**, **Assistant** (Assistant hidden with no model). This replaces the old phone layout where a stacked control column shoved the garden into a corner. The mode bar is **always visible**, and the rail (inspector, journal, history, assistant) is an **in-flow peek** (#101): a ≤50vh panel the editor's flex column places BETWEEN the canvas and the mode bar, so the canvas flexes to keep the garden visible above it and the mode bar reachable below — selecting a bed no longer hides the whole garden, and you can switch modes without closing a panel. Desktop keeps its side-column layout (the mode bar is `md:hidden`, the rail is the right column) and treats `mode` as an inert hint. History stays reachable as a rail sub-tab rather than a fifth primary mode.
 - **Editor components (`web/src/editor/`):** `GardenCanvas` (svg root + viewport g), `useViewport` (use-gesture pan/zoom/pinch), `ObjectShape`, `PlopMarker` (semantic-zoom branching), `Palette` (drag-to-place object kinds), `EditorRail` (the one side panel), `Inspector`, `HistoryPanel`, `PlantPicker`.
 - **One rail, tabs inside it.** The inspector, history, journal and assistant all want the same strip of screen; rather than each bolting on its own chrome they are tabs in `EditorRail` — so the canvas is one width instead of a different width per panel, and adding a panel is adding a tab. Selecting an object switches to the Inspector tab automatically, so the rail is never something you operate before you can edit; on a phone the same tabs render in the bottom sheet the inspector already used. Pure geometry helpers (local↔world transforms, unit formatting) in `web/src/lib/geometry.ts`, unit-tested.
 
diff --git a/web/src/editor/EditorRail.tsx b/web/src/editor/EditorRail.tsx
index a836274..591a27c 100644
--- a/web/src/editor/EditorRail.tsx
+++ b/web/src/editor/EditorRail.tsx
@@ -14,11 +14,14 @@ import { cn } from '@/lib/cn'
  *   - Selecting an object must land you in the inspector with no extra click.
  *     The editor watches the selection and switches to that tab itself, so the
  *     rail never becomes a thing you have to operate before you can edit.
- *   - The canvas has to stay worth watching while the agent edits it, so the
- *     rail is a fixed 20rem column and closes completely when nothing needs it.
+ *   - The canvas has to stay worth watching while the agent edits it, so the rail
+ *     closes completely when nothing needs it.
  *
- * On a phone the same tabs render in a bottom sheet, which is where the
- * inspector already lived.
+ * Layout differs by breakpoint. Desktop: a fixed 20rem column beside the canvas.
+ * Phone: an in-flow PEEK (#101) — a ≤50vh panel the editor's flex column places
+ * BETWEEN the canvas and the always-visible mode bar, so the canvas shrinks to
+ * keep the garden visible above it and the mode bar reachable below, rather than
+ * a bottom sheet that covered the whole garden.
  */
 
 export interface RailTab {
@@ -47,9 +50,13 @@ export function EditorRail({
   return (
     <div
       className={cn(
-        // Phone: a bottom sheet over the canvas. Desktop: a column beside it.
-        'fixed inset-x-0 bottom-0 z-30 flex max-h-[70vh] flex-col rounded-t-xl border-t border-border bg-surface shadow-lg',
-        'md:static md:max-h-none md:w-80 md:shrink-0 md:rounded-xl md:border md:shadow-sm',
+        // Phone: an in-flow PEEK — a capped-height panel that sits between the
+        // canvas and the always-visible mode bar (the editor's flex column places
+        // it there), so the garden stays visible above it and the mode bar stays
+        // reachable below. The canvas flexes to fill whatever's left. Desktop: a
+        // fixed-width column beside the canvas.
+        'flex max-h-[50vh] min-h-0 shrink-0 flex-col rounded-t-xl border-t border-border bg-surface shadow-lg',
+        'md:static md:max-h-none md:w-80 md:rounded-xl md:border md:shadow-sm',
       )}
     >
       <div className="flex items-center gap-1 border-b border-border px-2 py-1.5">
diff --git a/web/src/pages/GardenEditorPage.tsx b/web/src/pages/GardenEditorPage.tsx
index dac74ee..6d0be53 100644
--- a/web/src/pages/GardenEditorPage.tsx
+++ b/web/src/pages/GardenEditorPage.tsx
@@ -225,17 +225,25 @@ export function GardenEditorPage() {
     }
   }, [selectedId, selectedPlantingId, setRailTab, setMode])
 
-  const exitFocus = () => {
-    setFocusedObject(null)
-    setArmedPlant(null)
+  // Clearing the selection also closes the inspector via the selection effect
+  // above; shared by exitFocus, the mode bar, and the rail's close so the
+  // deselect logic lives in one place.
+  const clearSelection = () => {
     select(null)
     selectPlanting(null)
   }
 
-  // The mobile mode bar. Journal/Assistant are panel modes, so they open the
-  // rail sheet; Fixtures/Plants are canvas modes, so they close a panel rail (but
-  // leave an inspector, which is about the selection, alone). Tapping Fixtures
-  // means going back to arranging objects, so it steps out of a focused bed.
+  const exitFocus = () => {
+    setFocusedObject(null)
+    setArmedPlant(null)
+    clearSelection()
+  }
+
+  // The mobile mode bar. Journal/Assistant are panel modes, so they open the rail
+  // as a peek; Fixtures/Plants are canvas modes — a fresh intent — so they close
+  // whatever's in the rail AND drop any lingering selection (which the canvas
+  // would otherwise keep highlighted, e.g. after routing a selection through
+  // Journal and back). Fixtures also steps out of a focused bed.
   const selectMode = (m: EditorMode) => {
     setMode(m)
     if (m === 'journal') {
@@ -244,7 +252,8 @@ export function GardenEditorPage() {
     } else if (m === 'assistant') {
       setRailTab('chat')
     } else {
-      if (railTab === 'journal' || railTab === 'chat') setRailTab(null)
+      clearSelection()
+      setRailTab(null)
       if (m === 'fixtures' && focusedObjectId != null) exitFocus()
     }
   }
@@ -629,11 +638,36 @@ export function GardenEditorPage() {
         )}
       </div>
 
-      {/* Mobile bottom: contextual tools for the current mode + the mode switch
-          bar (#99). md:hidden — desktop uses the left column. A panel-mode rail
-          (journal/assistant) or the inspector overlays this while open. */}
+      {/* The rail sits between the canvas and the mode bar. On mobile it's an
+          in-flow PEEK (≤50vh), so the garden stays visible above it and the mode
+          bar below (see EditorRail); on desktop it's the right-hand column. */}
+      {railTab && (
+        <EditorRail
+          tabs={railTabs}
+          activeId={railTab}
+          onActivate={setRailTab}
+          onClose={() => {
+            // Only the inspector is *about* the selection, so only closing it
+            // deselects; dismissing a panel leaves the canvas as you had it. Any
+            // panel rail (journal/history/chat) drops back to a canvas mode.
+            if (railTab === 'inspector') {
+              clearSelection()
+            } else {
+              // Back to a canvas mode — Plants if you're still inside a bed, else
+              // Fixtures. (Hardcoding Fixtures here docked the object palette inside
+              // a focused bed.)
+              setMode(focusedObjectId != null ? 'plants' : 'fixtures')
+            }
+            setRailTab(null)
+          }}
+        />
+      )}
+
+      {/* Mobile bottom: contextual tools for the current canvas mode + the
+          always-visible mode switch bar (#99/#101). md:hidden — desktop uses the
+          left column. The tool strip yields to a rail peek when one is open. */}
       <div className="shrink-0 md:hidden">
-        {canEdit && (mode === 'fixtures' || mode === 'plants') && (
+        {canEdit && !railTab && (mode === 'fixtures' || mode === 'plants') && (
           <div className="mb-2 min-h-[2.25rem]">
             {mode === 'fixtures' && <Palette />}
             {mode === 'plants' &&
@@ -677,30 +711,6 @@ export function GardenEditorPage() {
         <ModeBar mode={mode} onSelect={selectMode} hasAssistant={!!capabilities.data?.agent} canEdit={canEdit} />
       </div>
 
-      {railTab && (
-        <EditorRail
-          tabs={railTabs}
-          activeId={railTab}
-          onActivate={setRailTab}
-          onClose={() => {
-            // Only the inspector is *about* the selection, so only closing it
-            // deselects; dismissing a panel leaves the canvas as you had it. Any
-            // panel rail (journal/history/chat) drops back to a canvas mode so the
-            // mobile mode bar reappears.
-            if (railTab === 'inspector') {
-              select(null)
-              selectPlanting(null)
-            } else {
-              // Back to a canvas mode so the mode bar reappears — Plants if you're
-              // still inside a bed, else Fixtures. (Hardcoding Fixtures here docked
-              // the object palette inside a focused bed.)
-              setMode(focusedObjectId != null ? 'plants' : 'fixtures')
-            }
-            setRailTab(null)
-          }}
-        />
-      )}
-
       {picker && (
         <PlantPicker
           unit={garden.unitPref}