large-flowered leafcup
Interrupting my series on astery things and butterflies for a quick update on the Potomac Gorge, where I went this past Tuesday. After all the flooding, many plants are coming back. They aren’t as tall as they normally would be at this time of year, and some of them are just starting to bloom or bud up, a month or two late.
On the riverbanks, large-flowered leafcup (Smallanthus uvedalia) and cut-leaved coneflower (Rudbeckia laciniata) are blooming. A few New York ironweed (Vernonia noveboracensis) are also growing, looking short but with lots of buds.
cut-leaved coneflower
Right by the water’s edge, a few halberd-leaved rosemallow (Hibiscus laevis) are up, at about one-third of their mature height. I found one just starting to form buds; in other years, these plants started blooming in mid July.
buttonbush
In one place I saw an exceptionally short and shrubby-looking buttonbush (Cephalanthus occidentalis) with a few flower heads just formed, one with buds that will open any day now. In this area they usually start blooming in late June or early July.
woodland sunflower
Inland where there wasn’t any flooding, some of the typical mid-to-late summer bloomers are starting: two species of thoroughworts (Eupatorium) and goldenrods (Solidago) with buds just about to burst.
Starry campion (Silene stellata) and woodland sunflower (Helianthus divaricatus) are in full bloom. There were just a few blooms left on a stand of St. Andrew’s cross (Hypericum hypericoides).
cranefly orchid
And much to my delight, cranefly orchid (Tipularia discolor) is out.
Elizabeth's Wildflower Blog 
We are so often surprised when wildflowers or any flora recovers after something such as a flood, severe weather, fire or even the eruption of Mount Saint Helen’s, even though we know that is what flora does. So much of the flora in our region benefits from occasional burning, and some of the flora really knows how to exploit fire. We do not get much flooding, but the flora in deltas recovers when it happens.