What could this be?

I know this sounds crazy but last year I planted 3 asiatic lilly plants in back yard. Well yesterday and I going around looking in my flower beds I saw something red in ground where
the lillies were planted. I was something red in both spots that had a plant. I did not know what this was and was afraid to touch it. Anybody ever saw something like this?

A picture would help but if it was a bug It was the RedLily Beetle.
Prepare for War.
The adults are laying eggs and the larve will hatch and eat every leaf and bloom.
Spray with Sevin or Bayers Rose and Insect spry. Spray the gorund aroune where you planted the asiatics.

Are beetle big because this was BIG not a little bug.

Cant tell without a picture
Try BugFiles

If it's not a bug, it might be the bulbs planted too shallow. If they're not planted deep enough sometimes the bulbs or part of the bulbs poke out of the ground and for some reason they're reddish in color too. If they're pointed maybe the lilies are growing already and are poking out to the surface, that's reddish in color too.

Have you any Peonies planted?
Peonies initital growth is a deep red to burgandy.

Hello Tex68!

We have snowplants that are wonderful to see as they burst from the ground.
What a pleasant sight to see in our forest in the Spring.

I agree with TP because some of my peonies are sprouting. They are pointed, maroonish sprouts, about 1/4-3/8" in diameter. As soon as they get a little bigger, they look like tiny red trees.

It's a little bit early for the red lily beetle. I think I'm describing them properly when I say they are about as big as a lightning bug, but a deep, dark orange. The giant allium start out with red points and turn into a green rosette with red margins. Also, some of the tulips are starting out reddish-burgundy.

I think it's just a little early here for the asiatics to emerge, but they also have deep red bulbs, as Tex mentioned. If you had a lot of frosts and thaws, they can rise up by default.

A picture would really help. None of the asiatics I planted in the fall have sprouted, and I'm in zone 6b. The croci (crocuses), dwarf irises, hyacinth, muscari, tulips and irises have all broken through the soil. Tulips are getting big and crocus plants are blooming. Also awake and growing are the centaurea montana and its cousin amethyst in snow. I can't wait to see what made it through the winter!

Well I feel VERY STUPID. Yesterday after I left this forum I got on the internet to investigate. I was pretty sure after looking at pictures that it was a bulb. This morning I went outside and poked it (dont laugh I am a scary person) and I am now positive it is a bulb but since it is a bulb it must have heaved. Is it too late to replant and how deep do you plant lillies? I purchased this one as live plant- I did not plant bulbs. This is my first winter gardening and I never heard of heaving. I guess I should have paid more attention to my parents when they were doing the yard but I just didn't. I have peonies and I see their sprouts I just did not know lillies grew from big bulbs.

Lilies will place themselves where they belong in the soil. They have contractile roots:
http://chestofbooks.com/gardening-horticulture/Commercial-Gardening-1/Contractile-Roots.html

I'd leave them alone and let them take care of it themselves. Often the tips show up as red so that's normal.

Glad the mystery is solved. You may feel a little silly, but we have all be there in some aspect.

While lilies do have contractile roots that will pull themselves down, it doesn't happen i in a just a month's time. The plants will be suffering from drought and heat, being too shallowly planted, for at least an entire season. So replant them in a hole with a depth that is three times the height of the bulb. Dig the hole wide so you can spread the root out when you replant. This will help prevent heaving in the future.

Can I do it now? The dirt is soggy from rain?

I would guess that what you are seeing are stem bulblets that are naturally closer to the soil surface. You may leave them until it dries up a bit, or if you feel the need to do something right now then mound some soil over the bulbs.

While peonies, aliums, tulips are just starting to sprout, my Invasion lilies are really shooting out of the ground. Even ahead of the Asiatics.

Here's one of them

and look who greeted me this morning . . .

I'm with Leftwood. If you had just planted it last year, you probably planted it too shallow. And they won't pulll themselves down before bloom, and you'll find the lily tipping, and possibly the bulb not do well. Also you might want to move them to an area that does not get soggy, if you can.

I have replanted lilies that have started to grow when I thought they were too close together. The end result was a diminished number of blooms that season, but nothing permanent. I have also broken off lilies at the stem, and they still grow the following year.

Tex, that is my version of a lady bug. My red lily beetles have thinner, longer bodies. Don't know what you get in the Lone Star state.

I would have mistaken it for a ladybug. It's the nasty bug for lilies?

Cathy, we're both in the East Coast. I'm in Jersey, shore area. Yeah, I know it's a lady bug. I'm just surprised to see a few of them today at this time of the year. Thank goodness in my area we don't have the red lily beetles (yet) nor the deadly Jap beetles. So yeah, that friendly little critter (lady bug) is a welcome sight for me.

Pollyk, I was typing when you posted. It's a lady bug not the lily beetle.

Oh, whew. i was wondering how on earth I would tell the lily beetles from the Japanese ones. LOL. Thanks for clarifying. Miy Japanese beetles seem a duller red, and I had heard the lily beetle is bright red.
Double whew!

Moby could be right: they might be smaller stem bulblets, with the mother lily bulb safely below. That would be if you had planted the original bulbs last spring. If you planted the original bulbs last fall, stem bulblets could not have been produced.

At any rate, follow the general rule with working with any dirt: if it is clotty, muddy, slippery or wet, don't work the soil and don't replant. Wait until the soil is dry enough so you are not working with paste or gumbo clots of dirt. If the bulbs start growing leaves or shoots before the soil becomes dry enough, then I would risk it. Gently dig with a digging fork instead of a shovel if you can. Don't attempt to break the heavy clots of soil into small pieces so there will be no air spaces. You would be replanting in a very coarse and rough manner. Don't tamp the soil over the bulb. Just mound a pile of clumps, and let it settle au natural.

This spring I have noticed the Asian lady beetles out even while there is still snow patches on the ground. I am assuming they are Asian because I don't think our native lady beetle species is that stupid. LOL. (Really, it's that our native one is better adapted to the climate.)

Thank you, here it has been raining on a daily basis so the dirt is wet and muddy. All I did was scoot some dirt on the bulb. It is not the tip- I see one of my tips coming up- it is the actual bulb at the top of the dirt. I'll keep looking to see when the dirt dries- the only problem is that here it has been raining every couple of days. By the time I can actully dig it might be too late. Oh well, I can just buy more at store.

I know we all know what it is now, but I am with Moby - especially with Asiatics and LA's it is common to see new bulblets which form along the stem at or even slightly above the soil surface, even though the main bulb is far below. I get these all the time. Don't be surprised if you see these in future years.

While pulling old stems in the spring, on occasion they come with bulblets still attached. In that case, I plant that stem and all right back in the ground near the mother ~ just a little deeper.

I love the bulblets! They grow lovely in Miracle Grow Peat Moss.

Chances are it won't be too late. I would want to get it to drier soil as soon as I could, though, if it's an area that will stay wet. The worst that will probably happen is the bloom will be smaller, or it might not even bloom this year, but the bulb should survive.

Please let us know how you make out, and post a picture, if you can, when it blooms :)