I certainly have asked myself the same question many times. I was checking out my plants all throughout the year. It seems some plants multiply like rabbits, others very slowly. So you may not see any increase in some plants over the year, others seem to send up a new fan a foot or two away, still others form grass like clumps with lots of little fans. It just seems there are many different ways the increase happens. I think most of it happens underground as the roots and crown develop but it seems at this time of year we begin to see more of the new growth actually showing the new fans.