TYVM for your input, Evan! I couldn't find any info about C. esculenta being monocarpic either, but it never hurts to ask.
I'm a "huge mulcher," and never had a problem with any rotting before on any of these things... I'm just a few miles from FL... except that one big one that was especially exposed during last (especially harsh) winter. I have quite a few of these in the ground for a few years, and had the mama bulb in a pot for over a decade before PIG'ing a few years ago. That big mama started winter under a nice pile of leaves, but they either blew away or disintegrated too quickly. There was night after night of below freezing, then an ice storm with 2 nights in the teens. It was hideous - the kind of long, cold winter I moved to AL to escape. But TY so much for offering the most excellent advice. Spot-on, couldn't agree more!