Does it look anything like the tree that was removed?

That was my first thought too. New leaves on trees are often red. I bet its suckers growing up from roots left in the ground. I took out a large Crepe Myrtle and it will take about two years or more of scraping those out from beneath the soil surface but the roots will finally give up. Its best to attack them early while they are weak and easily broken off. They usually come up as multiple groups of soft stems that break away easily.

Reminds a walnut seedling , but they are usually green.

A hickory is what was removed. The other forum thought that it might be suckers, too. Will these grow into a healthy tree if I leave it?

Thanks everyone. It is so nice to be in the presence of such brilliant folks. Seriously. It never occurred to me that it might be a sucker.

Just as an interesting aside, we lost an oak out back, but just cut it to ground level. I now have an oak bush there. I sort of love it in all its weirdness. ;)

Cynthia