The terrestrial orchids that are native to North America generally don't behave like your typical perennial. There's a LOT of variability from year to year in terms of how much they grow and bloom. They'll even seem to completely disappear for years at a time and then suddenly reappear as if by magic. We've been watching a particular clump of Yellow Lady's Slippers in an oak woodland near here for the past few years. It produced 10 flowering stems in 2012, 6 in 2013, just 1 in 2014, and it looks like it's going to have 4 or 5 this year. Prior to 2012 (when we starting burning that woodland), it had been a decade or more since lady's slippers had last been seen there.
