Single leaf plants are non-blooming size. Two leaves, large enough to flower. The "stem" down to the bulb is about the thickness of a piece of spaghetti, very easy to break. Dig deep, do your best, don't agonize over accidental breakages. E. americanum forms dropper roots with a new bulblet at the tip. Until buried deep enough the new bulblets seem to only produce a single leaf, non-flowering plant. Driving down the Merritt Parkway in Connecticut, many years ago, I saw a patch in full bloom - quite unlike the usual masses of foliage / few flowers situation. Veering to the side of the road I hopped out of my car to investigate further. The erythronium were growing in a ledge outcrop with a deep rift filled with soil. My assumption was that the offset bulbs, once they could delve no deeper, bulked up and reached flowering size. So try setting a large piece of slate at at bottom of the planting hole in your garden. Angle it for drainage. Replace a layer of soil, set your rescued bulbs, and wait for next Spring. A watering with half-strength Jack's Classic Blossom Booster (10-30-20) blue crystal fertilizer, at planting time and again a couple of weeks later, would not be amiss. Judy in New Jersey where bulbs are racing into bloom, trying to make up for their delayed start. --- This email is free from viruses and malware because avast! Antivirus protection is active. http://www.avast.com/