I would think there are two issues you have to address to make an appropriate decision. The first is location prep: Is the site where you want to put the shrubs ready for them? Is the soil diggable? The more work you will need to do to prep the location, the more I would want to put it off until it cools.

The second is water. You are going to have to water whether the shrubs stay in pots or if you transplant them if you don't get enough rain. Where will it be easiest to notice if the plants have gotten dry and to get enough water to them to give them a good drenching: where you have the shrubs now or where they will be planted?

Once you make these decisions, you will know when to plant.

I realize this is different from the advice we gave dreedree. But the difference is she hadn't already gotten her plants, so if she waited until fall, she would not have to do the watering to prevent die off.

When you put plants in the ground, if you want them to thrive long-term, they need to develop a good root system, with tender young roots. With the brutal weather we're having, I think that will be difficult. It's not the watering to keep an area near the roots moist - the soil is hot, water is being evaporated out of it faster than roots can grab it, the leaves are transpiring furiously, it's ugly.

If you keep them in the pots and keep the pots in a shaded/partly shaded location with wood chips piled up around the pots, they will hold up well during the heat, and then you can plant them in Spetember and get them off to a good atart.

My 2 cents.