On 29 May 2003 12:08:14 GMT, (Bill Oliver) wrote:

One of the things we have at our place are a couple of patches
of tulips. They do *extremely* well -- pop up every year, seem
to get thicker every year, and the patch has been slowly enlarging
itself. The only thing that hurts the tulips are some deer that
live in a nearby park, who have ravaged all the yards in the
neighborhood because of a tough winter.

This spring, a friend of mine came over and saw the tulips,
or what was left of them after the deer had their way. He
said "You know, you really need to dig them up every couple
of years and replant them."
snip
Do I really need to dig up a patch of tulips that has been going
great guns for 15 years and replant them in the same place?

Somehow that just doesn't seem right.

I have very few tulips that return at all, much less multiply. If
yours are doing well, I'd leave 'em alone. Daffodils, OTOH, will have
fewer blooms as they multiply in place, and are invigorated by being
dug up, divided, and replanted. However, this is clearly visible in
the spring when you have a fine crop of dense foliage and 1 or 2
blooms.