Wildflower Wednesday-Recovery Flowers

Our two major walking trails in the Binghamton, NY area (Otsiningo Park and the Vestal Rail Trail) were both impacted by the widespread flooding caused by Tropical Storm Lee on September 8 and 9.  Otsiningo Park had to close for over a week.  I am not sure if the Vestal Rail Trail closed completely but I suspect it did.  One part runs on the edge of a neighborhood called Twin Orchards that was one of the most impacted by the flooding.  Last Thursday, that end was still closed.  But the other end was open, with its wildflowers alive and well.

Late summer/early fall belongs to the asters. Fall is almost here; it begins on September 23 this year.

I am not going to pretend I am a wildflower expert.  There are so many different kinds of asters out there, so if I am wrong about these, just jump in and let me know.

The first aster is (I think) is a New England aster.  They are so showy they almost take your breath away.  The second one was smaller.  This might be a New York aster. 

 
Time for my mystery plant of the week.  I wish I had gotten more of a close up of this white flower.  It's been blooming for a few weeks.  The closest I can get to this is something called "buttonbush" but what I read seems to imply buttonbush wouldn't be blooming this late in the year.  These flowers are small, round, and don't seem to have a center.  (the yellow flowers with them are goldenrod.)

Finally, I want to share a wildflower sight with you that I hope you never see.  This is a stand of goldenrod and other plants.  The grey foliage is what remains when a plant is covered by flood.

I hope you never see anything like that.