We inherited a solitary red hot poker when we moved into our current
house, and transplanted it to a sunnier position. It thrived and
multiplied until we had an impressive clump of twenty last year.

This year we had six mangy looking pokers and the gnarled brown
above-ground "roots" (if that's the right name for that part of the
plant) had turned mushy and flaccid.

We've not done anything different to them - in fact they've always
been left to their own devices - so we were wondering whether they've
become diseased, succumbed to old age or whether the spell of wet
weather earlier in the year put the kibosh on them. Is there anything
we can do to return them to health next year?

Thanks for any advice.