Hi George,
The many little plants probably grew from bulb offsets or stem bulblets. That happens even when a bulb is healthy, but I find that when a bulb doesn't come up it will sometimes produce a lot of these.

Dig them up carefully (they may be down near the base of the original bulb - if they are offsets - or at the top around the remains of the old stem - if they are stem bulblets). Then plant them where you want them. If you don't want to disturb the area now (with everything in growth) it would be more prudent to let them mature this year and dig them up in the fall - and replant.

-Helen

They're already naturalizing and that's a good thing if you want a bed of lilies , let the babies have a growing season OR TWO OR THREE (three is best)like Helen said before dividing

Can the babies be grown up in a shadier area until bigger, then moved? I dug some 2 year old asiatics last fall because they were too close to a plant that grew larger than expected. I found loads of bulblets on the stems. I broke those off as I wanted the main bulb to stay strong, and put them in a another bed. This bed is dappled shade, full sun until the trees leaf out; even when leafed out it gets maybe a few hours of angled sun in the morning. Now I see one full rosette that may actually be blooming size, and lots of mini stems with 2 to 5 little leaves on them.

Are these suitable conditions for growing them up a bit? If I leave some there, will they actually bloom in shady conditions? They are all asiatics. If I could have lilies blooming in part shade, that would double my growing area!

I have a special nursery bed for the babies. It has optimum conditions: rich loose soil, full sun, regular watering.

Those babies get BIG within a couple of years. Very impressive!

I used to nurse them along in a forgotten place in the garden that was a little shady, just ok soil, and no special care. Their performance wasn't much to shout about and most of the time they just struggled on, not really reaching maturity.

For me, it's been worth it to use of optimum space to grow the babes.

Sounds like a good idea. Should they be fertilized? If so, what kind and what time of year is best? I wonder if they can be nurtured in containers. What do you think?

I am bumping this because I hope for more information. I have a few places to nurture babies but none of those are full sun. Good soil and water, though.

None of my asiatics (all potted and a number of years old) are in full sun and they produce babies all the time. The asiatics don't mind growing in the understory as long as they can get some light from somewhere. They may stretch a bit but bloom just fine.

Well, thanks to the expert support of you masters... I got a bloom from one of my nurtured babies from last year. Going to repeat the process again this year.
One big question still:
FERTILIZER!!!
I am guessing bone meal is the best, but what is the best time of year to do this?
Thanks again
George

Thanks for the update. Always helpful to know what worked! My babies in the shady bed look much the same this year as last: same size, no blooms. At this rate it will take forever before they produce anything. But all the full sun garden space is stuffed: itÂs there or nowhere.