Find Your These plants cropped up suddenly this spring in Franklin, MA in several locations near hemlock trees. Never had them before. What are they? Looks like an orchid family plant to me.
This plant – actually there are several clusters of two each, in and area around the circumference of several hemlock trees – emerged in May and sent up a spikes of dozens of fuzzy flower buds in the days that followed. The flowers have only just now opened. The area is actually fairly dry. The hemlocks survive only because of a sprinkler system nearby. They provide shade to these plants part of the day. The area is a border and is heavily mulched. As I said, they weren’t planted and weren’t there last year — they just appeared suddenly this year. Soil is poorly drained, heavy clay, acidic. – Michael
