The Helianthus 'Lemon queen' has been flowering for quite some time, but it now appears to be at its peak with more flowers than buds, rather than the other way around.

This is Rudbeckia 'little henry'. I got this because it was half price, rather than a considered purchase, and it is a bit of a disappointment so far, compared to the R. 'Goldsturm'. It hasn't grown very well and the flowering stems are all spread out at different angles. The petals are meant to be rolled up, so I'm not sure if the flower is completely out yet.

Here is the first flower this year of the Anemone × hybrida 'Honorine Jobert'. It flowered last year, but there are many more buds this year. It is still only about 50cm tall, but it is expected to be two to three times that when fully grown.

There was some heavy winds during the second part of the month. It seemed to dry out some of the plants in the most exposed areas, rather than causing a lot of breakages.

Compare with last year. This year is similar, apart from there being far more plants this year many of which are flowering.

Gladioli

There are still a few gladioli opening up. This pink one is in among the blue ones. I don't remember planting anything other than the blue ones here. Not saying I definitely didn't, just that I don't remember doing so.

Lavender in the container

Well this is much reduced on last year. It did not grow much at all during the hot and dry part of the year. The flowers were very short too. Now it is doing better and the flowers are more normal size again.

Rudbeckia

The plant is much larger …

Plenty of sun this week and it was really warm on a couple of days although windy, then the wind dropped along with the temperature.

1 Helenium with bonus butterfly

This is Helenium 'Mardi Gras' with a comma butterfly blending in fairly well.

2 Penstemon grown from seed this year

I grew a few Penstemon from seed this year. I wasn't sure if they would flower the first year and of course they may not survive the winter anyway - the one I had last year didn't.

So very pleased to see this. There is another one which is starting to open which is a very, very light pink almost all white really.

Does that top one look like a face, or is it just me?

3 Tiarella 'Mystic mist'

I just got this in August. It ought to be a spring flowering plant, so why is it flowering now …

Yesterday's storm was probably the strongest winds I have seen here, at least while the leaves were on the plants.

Nothing is staked so how did everything fare?

A couple of things in containers were broken off: a Zinnia and part of the petunia. The only thing in the ground that was broken was a Polemonium. This was a plant that I grew from a piece that was itself blown down in high winds earlier in the year. I guess it is just not meant to be. The original plant is now protected by a few annual plants so it still survives.

Otherwise the damage is to leaves and flower buds which are curled and dried out.

Here is the Helianthus 'Lemon queen'.

Many buds are now dried black husks.

Next here are some leaves of a Actaea, dried out and curled up. It is in a …

Two of the Penstemon that I grew from seed this year are starting to flower. This is the first and has a couple of fully open flowers. I wasn't sure if they were planted early enough to flower in the first year, so I am glad they have. After all they may not survive the winter; the one I had last year didn't.

Actaea simplex 'Pink spike'

This has been in bud for a long time and at long last the flowers are opening As they first opened they appeared completely white, but there is some pink visible now. Will have to wait and see if this pink colour develops further.

I don't normally comment on scent, but this is highly scented and is noticeable from a distance.

My other Actaea