LOL!

Spooky...lol

Maybe it's like the snapdragons I have. The last time I planted snapdragons, I believe, was five years ago. I didn't have any snapdragons for three years and then, voila, snapdragons last year and again this year.

The only other thing I can think of is them being hidden in some other annual package that I bought, but you'd think they'd be closer than they are to other plants, if that's the case.

I think you have magic Monkshood and I have magic Snapdragons. =:)

Well I have magic hollyhock so there! Or is that mushrooms......lol

Well with some species the seeds can lie dormant for years, then sprout in the right conditions. That monkshood could have been struggling along (it's inside a peony) for a couple of years before I noticed it too. It's one of the ones with finely divided leaves, they look cool. At least I'll have seeds to collect this fall.

It's also nearby my autumn monkshood which is just starting to develop tiny buds. I wonder if I'll see flowers in November this year. :/

I had a monkshood plant many years ago but removed it when I become a Grandmother and didn't want to risk having such a poisonous plant around. So 2 or 3 years ago another one grew up in a different area of my garden - I'm leaving it because it's in the middle of a bed, the Grands don't bother my plants, and I'm always out there with them.

I thought the birds must have seeded it as it was many years between.

I've also had parsley, a Marguerite, and a Malva Zebrina pop up as if by magic. And lots of thistles! I always credit the birds.