Question
I recently did some work in my father's lilly bed.  He is no longer alive, and I continued to maintain the flower beds.  I have since moved away, and visit Holidays.  The friend that maintains the yard has neglected the flower beds.  Most have died.  Last year he cut down the stems before blooming occured on most plants, an accident.  This year one came back...therefore my question.  I replanted a couple bulbs and looked for any remaining bulbs.  I found only dried roots, and no bulbs.  This was a vibrant patch of about 2X3 with red, yellow, and white asiatic lillies.  Do the bulbs disolve in soil once planted, or do they propagate through roots and bulbs?  I still have to pots of Day-lillies, which are looking horrible.  I gave them water and placed them where my Mom could reach better to water.
My last question when is it safe to divide Day lillies from a pot that they are aparrently not performing well in?  I would think root bound would be the cause.  They have not flowered yet this year.  Also with as sick as they are, I would not want to rock the boat just yet.  I appreciate any help or information that you can provide.
Thanks,
Mike

Answer
Hi Mike,
Thanx for your question.  Please accept my condolences on the passing of your father.  Plants that grow from bulbs expend a lot of energy when they come back up in the spring.  They are expending a lot energy to produce the leaves and bloom that is their way of reproducing.  Flowers (except in sterile hybrids) will make a seed pod and this requires a lot of energy.  Many times if the plant is cut off before it has a chance to perform these functions it will die.  The leaves gather energy from the sun while the plant is using energy stored in the form of sugars and starches in the bulb.  Normally, a healthy bulb will be quite visible if you were to dig it up.  If the bulb dies, for whatever reason, it will decay and become part of the organic matter in the dirt and chances are, you will have difficulty finding traces of it.  Some biota like earthworms, grubs, moles and squirrels will eat bulbs.  Worms will dispatch the dead or dying plant matter and so you may never see the bulb once the top part has been destroyed.  Bulbs can be propagated naturally in a number of ways.  First, by seed.  The bulb sends a stalk and leaves up. At the top of the stalk is the flower.  Pollinators pollinate the flower and a seedpod is formed.  In the fall, the seedpod opens and the seeds are dispersed into the garden.  The next spring the seedlings will emerge.  Another way bulbs propagate is by offsets.  This means little bulblets will form around the base of the mother bulb and eventually mature into their own plant.  This is one reason why we lift and separate bulbs every three years or so, otherwise they get too crowded and become susceptible to diseases and/or reduce or quit flowering.  The third way some bulbs reproduce is through bulbils.  These are usually round and black and form at the leaf axils of lilies like tiger lilies or at the head of the scape that comes out of garlic or walking onions which are both members of the lily family.  As far as your daylilies go, I would get them out of the pot and get them into their own piece of sunny ground or plant them in a much more spacious pot and give them some bone meal and well composted cow manure.  I hope this helps and good luck with your plants.  

Tom