I'm glad you asked this, Deanna, as I have the same question. I noticed these bulbils/bulbets at the base of many of my lilies (and not sure if they are on my asiatics or orientals, as I've lost the tags), and am not sure if I need to "do anything" about them (take off, replant to make more lilies?) Thanks for asking for us. Phyl

My orientals don't multiply with the bulblets like asiatics. The bulbs do seem to occasionally multiply, but not at the top of the stems like several of my asiatics. I know you can do scaling to increase them. Phyl, it isn't necessary to do anything to them, but you probably will want to divide them every 3 years or so to give them space. I like to leave them alone til there are several blooming size, then divide in fall when the stems are dying back a bit & replant.

If only Orientals multiplied the way Asiatics do, perhaps they'd be less expensive! Aren't Asiatics amazing? Even the tiny stem bulbs at ground level handle winter just fine with no cover, and sprout in the spring. I dig and divide Asiatics every two or three years because they get too crowded. All those Asiatic stem bulbs produce new small plants, which get so crowded that none of the plants can perform well. Oh, and they split their main bulb, too.

Orientals are different. In my experience, they only very rarely make stem bulbs. They multiply by splitting their bulb. You can tell when they have done that because each bulb produces a stem. If they are happy with their location, culture and climate, they can double every year, but I've found them to be slower than that. I dig and divide Orientals only every three to four years, depending on how crowded they get. I'm careful when digging to keep as much of the root system intact as possible, since they need those to get established quickly.

Jeanne