I totally agree with Michele on this. I've tried to get the "roots" to grow new plants but to no avail. I have gotten a root with a tiny piece of crown to grow a new fan, a few times. The bigger the attached piece of crown is, the more likely you can get a new fan to grow. I have broken the fan off at the crown and tried to get it to root, but so far, I haven't suceeded. I think it will work, as Michele stated, but I haven't been lucky to have a little bit of crown attached to the fan. I always manage to break mine off above the crown.
I repotted over 700 pots of daylilies last fall. I had thousands of cut off roots left from this task. I put them in the compost pile so if any wanted to grow, they could have. None grew!!! My compost pile was spread out and did not get hot, so the heat didn't kill any of the pieces until I put them over into the main pile after they all died. I did salvage alot of pieces with crowns. I had several survive and are growing today. Trust me when I say, I give everything a chance to grow. I'm not one to just throw away anypiece of plant that might grow another plant. I'm quite compulsive about this.
I also think Trudy should give this a try. Like you said, nothing to lose!!! By chance you get a piece with a crown, you might get another plant. At worse, you have a pot ready to grow a new plant or a bare spot in your garden bed ready to plant a new arrival later on. This is what makes all of the hard work pay off, getting a new plant for nothing. I love the thrill of watching to see if that root will put up a little green head, if not, oh well, I tried!!!
As always, have fun and many blessings to all, Mona
