where are you located? There was foilage already showing. Foliage is just now emerging, and you don't know what they are? Depending upon where you are, if they were spring blooming bulbs, they would have either bloomed by now, or at least be budded? Might they be summer blooming bulbs like lilies? Are you in a warmer climate that they might be glads? Got pics? At any rate...like the above poster said, they will likely survive somewhere else...just leave as much of the foliage in tact as possible. Knowing what they are, would give you a clue as to how deep they should be planted. FYI...you can add your garden zone and location in the one box provided for the garden zone (like mine is zone 5/6 S IN) by updating your member Profile via the Member Pages link found at the bottom of any page. Knowing where a member is located is often helpful when responding to questions. Sue

Lilsprout, the two in our own garden are both 'Purple Smoke'. I did very largely cut them down after spring (and have for several years), but find the few flopped stems left grown at strange angles, such that they seemed likely to trip me up when working in the bed. I have the species in another garden, where there's a lot more space available. In this case it was staked and also wedged in between a wall and several other tall and tough plants at the back of the bed. I did cut out the unattractive dried seed pods but the foliage actually didn't look too bad when I started cutting it back (reducing the number of stems - to further expose a 'Nora Leigh' garden phlox) only this week. The plant's too big (in flower or not fully cut back) for our own small garden. If you have more space, it may be a good choice for you. False indigo does grow up and out, but the stems are weaker than those of either the hibiscus or butterfly bushes I've dealt with. The usual pattern here with our spring plants (primulas, lungworts, brunnera, Jacob's ladder, columbines, etc.) is that they're hidden under taller perennials in summer and put out new foliage in/by fall as spent summer perennials are thinned out and cut down. I've not noticed that, in the past, with false indigo. Maybe I just missed it. This post was edited by SunnyBorders on Thu, Sep 18, 14 at 8:08

They get plenty of sun. I had iris in this bed before, but they died from rot in the year we had el nino. It didn't stop raining all summer. This bed backs up to the compost pile and I have to occasionally add iron to it, as the Sweet Autumn clematis sometimes gets iron chlorosis (sp?). So, nutrition can be a problem in this bed. I was sure that the rhizomes were large, but some are not. I just checked the ones on the end and they feel pretty small, but I'm just feeling as best I can without digging them up. My yard guy also added compost on top of the rhizomes when he was here last. I'll have to get him to remove it Tuesday. I don't think that's a factor, though, as he only did it last week. So once I get the compost off the top of them, I can check to see if they are as small as they seem. What can I do to grow the rhizhomes, if that's a factor? (Wow, the foliage is so large and green, I would not have guessed the rhizomes weren't mature size.) bkay

The first thing I thought was overcrowding... bulbs planted too close together. I know this sounds dumb, but I had a few clumps that I "overplanted" that failed to "thrive" until I lifted them and replanted them, a few years ago. They were even outperformed by a second year planting of FORCED bulbs that I'd interred with some fertilizer and little hope of success. I'd dug a big hole, broken up the clump when I removed them from the pot and put them in. I got only foliage the following year, but they outperformed the other clump for 2 years before I settled on a plan. Good thought on watering... hadn't considered it at all, but bulbs DO want to be well drained and have a "dry" period when they're dormant. I'll remember that one!