After having it for 5 or 6 years, last summer I saw one tiny baby plant alongside the mother plant. So it certainly has not been a good multiplier for me either. I top dress with compost every year and usually toss a little 10-10-10 down when it emerges in spring. As you said, a beautiful flower. I thought maybe my zone didn't allow for a long enough growing season for the bulb to multiply well but I see you are zone 6 so that appears to shoot that theory.

I had a trumpet lily-I don't know which one, it was white- but after several years it hadn't multiplied either. One year I wanted to move it and carefully dug it up in the spring even. There were many bulbs there and when I planted them all back it had many blooming stalks that year.I lifted some of the bulbs up because they were smaller. Maybe that helped some of them reach the surface sooner. It is now a wonderful clump.
Debbie

Thanks Debbie and hostaholic2 for the good input. i think I will move it and see what happens. I had a friend tell me that Asiatics need to be moved after so long. Have you heard anything like that?

Ellen

The asiatics tend to reproduce more quickly than the others and need to be divided more frequently. When the clump begins to look crowded or blooming declines it's time to divide. This is usually best done in fall after the foliage has ripened or turned yellow/brown. Carefully dig down and under the clump to lift it. You want to be careful not to dig into the bulbs.Stay well back from the stem(s) as they don't always come up straight above the bulb. Also lily bulbs have contractile roots and can pull themselves deeper into the ground as they grow so they may be deeper then you originally planted them. once you have them out of the ground you need to carefully pull the bulbs apart. Sometimes washing the soil off with a hose can help to untangle the roots. If you google North American Lily Society you will find links and info on growing lilies. If they don't have answers to your questions follow the North Star Lily Society link.

Thanks hostaholic really appreicate all the help. I just bought about 50 lillium bulbs and can't wait to see the results!
Ellen

Enjoy!

After reading a book on lilies, I took their advice and started using tomato food when they break ground and also when they are through blooming. Silk Road has multiplied well for me. I can usually dig one off every year and plant in another place.

Flowergirl,
Do you mean a fertilizer marked for vegetables especially tomatoes? How much, mine has just broke ground and I didn't move it like I wanted. Just affaid I would pierce the bulb! I heard somewhere that you are not to have the species lilum within one hundred ft. of other liliums due to some disease that could spread to the liliums.

Ellen

Sorry, I haven't been back here sooner. Yes, fertilizer marked for tomatoes.I just scratch a handful around the clump.I believe the tiger lily is the one you don,t want close to the other ones.