A close up...

Rudbeckia hirta/black-eyed Susan at a guess, probably fulgida. It's a short-lived perennial that self-seeds generously. See link below for height/width.

Here is a link that might be useful: Rudbeckia

Weed, thanks for the idea. It is not rudbekia. The leaves are wrong for rudbekia which I grow in spades. I am thinking it is maybe helianthus. Any thoughts?

Yep, I thought one of the shorter cultivars (R,hirta) such as 'Toto'.

camp, I Googled R. toto. The center on Rudbekias are raised not flat as in this plant and the leaves are not these leaves. These leaves are very thin, almost needle-like.

a pic of foliage details could be helpful, not sure whether I caught a glimps of some very narrow leaves between the flowers.

my first gut reaction was rather some Chrysanthemum, but then they would be on offer much later in the year.

I think the shape of the opening flowers/ buds is very distinct.

You could try a closeup of one and do a image-search on the net,

bye, Lin

I'm guessing chrysanthemum family as well, linaria in Switzerland. For Zone 6, it's not too odd that it would start blooming in August, I don't think.
There's also something called biden that I've never grown, but it can have a flower shape like that. Supposed to be fragrant. Is this one? If the leaves are fragrant rather than just the blossoms, then all the more likely it's chrysanthemum.

one of the argyranthemums (frutescens, maderense?) They flower in those clustering formats and have very fine, slightly serrated leaves.
I believe 'Jamaica primrose' is a cultivar

Lin, the leaves ARE very narrow. The whole plant is COVERED in blossoms so it is hard to get a better pic of the leaves. By searching, I ran across helanthus. That was as close as I could get.

Sam, Good guess but nothing on this plant is fragrant. I am totally stumped.

camp, I Googled argyranthemums Jamaica Primrose. That is closer than the rudbekia but look at the centers on the primrose https://www.google.com/search?q=argyranthemum+jamaica+primrose&biw=1104&bih=802&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=nt83VK7LNIz5yQTW4oLoBw&sqi=2&ved=0CAYQ_AUoAQ The centers in my plant are dark brown. Same flower shape though. Leaves are close but not exact.

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Very thin foliage makes me think helianthus and the bloom time is right. The only helianthus that I've encountered personally are about six feet tall - narrow fountains of bloom. Yours must be a dwarf?

It really looks like photos of Helianthus salicifolius 'Table Mountain', flowers and foliage sure do resemble such, I hope you can get a correct ID.

twrose, It DOES look like Helianthus salicifolius 'Table Mountain' except the height is wrong. The height on table mountain is 1-1.5 feet. This one is 3 feet in it's first year. I bought it in a quart pot.

cecily, Yes. It has narrow leaves and looks as you described - narrow fountains of blooms. If I can figure this out I will know where to move it to next year. How tall was the one you have or have seen?

My first thought was tickseed, possibly Bidens aristosa?

A normal helianthus is five to six feet tall and narrow - my neighbor stakes his and it looks sorta trussed up. His is in part shade, I think it really wants full sun.

Helianthus salicifolius 'First Light'?

Reminds me of a tall coreopsis, tickseed.

catkin ~ Bingo!!! Helianthus salicifolius 'First Light' it is! Thanks to everyone who helped with this I.D. This plant is gorgeous, much nicer than the pics though NOT attractive to bees or butterflies as claimed.

This definitely looks like tickseed , or Coreopsis, to me. Hundreds of cultivars available, it would be tough for me to narrow it down to the specific variety, but I'm almost sure that's what you've got!

Here is a link that might be helpful. Your photos make your plant appear to be far too short to be helianthus. Coreopsis seems a much better fit.

Here is a link that might be useful: Missouri Botanic - Coreopsis verticillata

Tree--Yay! But I may be wrong!

I've been trying to ID a similar plant in my garden since Spring. I was under the impression I'd left the nursery without the tag.

I read a post by EricOH which helped me out. Thought I had a Heliantuhs salicifolius 'First Light'--which someone said should be named *Last Light* because it blooms so late. BUT.....

I was on the outside of the fence on the bank weeding today and noticed a tag sticking out of the back of the planting hole (obscured behind the plant from inside the fence). The only time I'm out there is a couple of times a year to weed so I didn't notice it as the foliage is thick at the base.

My plant is Helianthus angustifolius 'Gold Lace'!

So...which is yours? LOL!

Glad to help you get closer!

Looks kind of like a daisy.