If the skies are still very clear at night then early frosts are a strong possibility. Cloudy nights with a little breeze to keep the temperatures above the critical level is what would be ideal.

And if you're also moving the clumps with a good earth mass around the roots, then the transplanting shock probably won't be too desperate to cope with.

If the ground is still pretty dry it may pay to dig the hole first (generous) then add a bucket of water before infilling with the bottom layer of enriched planting soil. A drought at the bottom of the hole is less likely, then.

One is digging up and moving established perennials (planted either this spring or last autumn). They should presumably be fine, especially (as vetivert8 says) I manage to take enough of a root ball with them. Nepeta nuda, Helenium autumnale and Gaura lindheimeri. They are still flowering, so I cannot move them for at least a couple of weeks.

The second is planting out perennials I bought from a specialist (Hardy's Garden Plants) in July. I transferred them into large(r) pots, to make watering easier in the drought, intending to plant them out in the autumn. They have grown very well and are flowering now, which is why I can't put them in their final homes for another couple of weeks. Late-flowerers such as Leucanthemella serotina and Salvia uliginosa, plus some more Gaura lindheimeri and Gaillarda 'Burgundy'.

The third is my order of perennials for autumn delivery, which still has not arrived, presumably as a result of the summer shut-off and general lateness of everything this year (I had the same problem with late delivery in the spring, which meant that the drought was already pretty much upon us when my herbs arrived). They are Anchusa azurea, Campanula lactiflora, Dictamnus albus, Hesperis matronalis, Limonium platyphyllum, Paeonia officinalis and lactiflora, Paper orientale, Salvia verticillata and Solidago. Ideally I would want to plant them in the ground (well-prepared well in advance with well-rotted manure) as soon as they arrive, which should be any day now. But I am worried that some may not survive the winter. Should they all be OK with a good mulch? Or should I pot up some in larger pots and keep them by the house or in my cold frame (very limited space) over the winter? Last winter I lost a Hadspen selection of Lobelia and some Monarda that I had put in the ground in the autumn, but then I had probably not mulched enough, and I did not realise that they were quite tender plants.

I live in Muswell Hill in north London, so I benefit from some, but not all of the London heat effect.

Some plants definitely prefer to be moved in autumn, the poppies are an obvious one from your list. They are in full growth now and it is best not to disturb them in spring when they should be flowering. The Peonies too are best planted now. Are these going to be bareroot? Autumn is definitely the time to plant peony roots. Deciduous shrubs also prefer being moved in autumn, but again you can plant from a pot at any time.

We moved to this house in the summer of 2005 and still have not planted fully because we spent much of the first year clearing an overgrown and unattended garden and double-digging with well-rotted manure.

I am still concerned as to how I lost my lobelia and monarda last winter. I doubt very much they got too soggy round the crown because they were planted towards the top of a sloping border that gets very dry in summer - and stayed very dry last winter because it hardly rained. (Being London, it is clay underneath.) I have since been told that lobelia needs plenty of water and the lack of it may well explain its death. Monarda I know nothing about.

The border has been very well prepared, and will be given light organic mulches this autumn and next spring, but I am still a bit concerned as to how plants such as Leucanthemella serotina and Salvia uliginosa, which are supposed to prefer damp soil, will manage in fairly dry, sloping border. Eupatorium purpureum, which I understand also likes some moisture, did not perform well at the top of the border this year - but then it was a young plant growing in a drought, so I guess it might well be fine if we have a more "normal" season next year. (Eupatorium 'Chocolate', planted next to it, has been much happier, and is still flowering now.)

But I am consoled, thank you, that it will not be too late to plant out even small perennials growing in soil-less compost in pots during November.

One more question: I planted some Marguerites this year, both the ordinary white one (presumably Argyranthemum/Chrysanthemum frutescens?) and Argyranthemum 'Sao Vicente' Madeira Series. They have flowered well since the drought. Will they perform again for me next year, or are they best regarded as bedding plants, to be discarded after one season? They came from a supposedly good garden centre (Capital Gardens at Alexander Palace), but nobody there seemed to know.

That was my initial impression after all the recent rain, but after doing a bit of digging, I found it to be barely moist in most places and still very dry under the surface in some areas.