One of the means of propagating bulbs is by cutting the bulbs into pieces, each with part of the basal plate. It's usually done when the bulbs are dry and under more sterile conditions. Having said that, here's what I would do. I would dust all the cut bulbs with sulfur, plant them apart from the whole bulbs, mark the spot and watch to see what happens next year. Nell

I can't speak to how the bulbs would react to being mailed "in the green," but I can tell you that it's very possible to move bulbs in the spring, I think ideally long before they bloom. I did it with tulips and daffodils the year I moved, and most of them were fine. The trick is to dig deep enough. I swear over time they manage to drill themselves further down than you planted them--or that's how it seems, anyhow!

Gamebird, I'm not a bulb expert, but I know a little about them. You have a couple of choices, depending on your circumstances and what you have available as far as storage is concerned. If you have space in the refrigerator (or if you have an usused dorm-sized refrigerator sitting around taking up space), put them in those mesh bags like onions come in and store them in the veggie crisper drawer. But, you'll have to keep ripening veggies and fruits out of that drawer temporarily while you're storing the bulbs there. If that is not an option, and you have a cool and dry (but not hot and dry) location, like a basement or storm cellar, you could store them there....either in mesh bags or in fairly dry sand. If that is not an option, I'd pot them up in something, but keep it just barely moist.....too much moisture and they'll rot in our heat. They may or may not survive in the pantry depending on how hot it gets. They probably would need to be misted occasionally to keep them from getting too dry. If their blooming has dropped over the last couple of years, they probably were too crowded, so when you plant them in the ground, give them lots of space. And, I don't know if they were able to overwinter in the ground in Minn. or if you had to dig and store them indoors over the winter, but here they will overwinter in the ground as long as they are in well-drained soil. (I know you probably know that already.) If you were building in my part of Oklahoma, rain wouldn't be an issue! (smile) It might actually rain here today, but I hope it is dry there so they can finish the landscaping soon. Dawn

Ha, Jim! Looks like you captured a photo of the elusive Grouchodeer! Beneficial to the garden because they drop cigar ash around the beds but dangerous because they don't look where they're stepping while they wiggle their eyebrows milking the audience for laughs. Just wait till his brothers start showing up - hoo boy, that's A Day at the Races. Diane, I was thinking your badgers did sound might useful at chasing away the mice (I'm fine if the coyotes finish the mice off), but the "super at digging" part sounds suspiciously fraught with danger. I can imagine a badger uprooting an established rose because some fool gopher snuck in there for protection. I imagine you don't let small dogs or cats out into the garden at night either, for fear the same fate awaits them. You have quite the Wild Life out there. Cynthia