Question
Hey Tom, a few years ago my mom planted one tiger lily shoot on the side of our house it took two years to bloom and then get bulbs. Last year we put a tarp to prevent weeds and granite down to look decorative this year there are about 15-20 tiger lilies and about ten of them have buds (it's especially surprising because we only had one stalk last year!)But since we put the tarp down and the granite, most of them grew out of intersection of our house and the ground because it was the only space for them to grow. We want to transplant them to the backyard but tiger lily roots go extremely deep and we don't want to harm them so how should we get them out?
Thanks

Answer
Hi Arjun,
Thanx for your question.  True tiger lilies are Lilium lancifolium
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lilium_lancifolium (pic).  The common ditch lily or day lily (tawny day lily) http://www.invasive.org/species/subject.cfm?sub=3407 (pic) is a different plant.  True tiger lilies grow from bulbs which generally lie 6-8 inches below the surface of the soil while day lilies grow from rhizomes that will go down to 4-6 inches below the soil.  While tiger lilies can be prolific, day lilies can be invasive.  With that said, if you have the true tiger lily, as long as you don't damage the bulb, just make sure you dig down deep enough to recover the bulb and its bulblets.  The day lily, will come out of the ground in a clump.  It is common to leave pieces of the rhizomes in the soil.  Trust me when I say you will not damage this plant.  It is so invasive that a small piece of rhizome will result in a complete new plant.  I have been removing this pest from my backyard for 17 years without success.  It is easily dug with a pitchfork.  If the pics are not what you have, kindly send me a pic so I can determine what you have.  I hope this helps.
Tom