Are your lilies "Lilium Superbum" which is the Turk's Cap Lily or "Lilium Tigrinum"? I have Tigrinum and although they haven't begun to bloom, the bulbils are already ripe and beginning to fall off on their own. If yours are at that stage and come away at the slightest touch, you might as well begin harvesting them.

It's been my experience that attempting to keep them unplanted for too long results in them shrivelling up. The natural process is for them to fall from the axil, land on the ground and work their way down into the soil to produce a one-leaf sprout in the spring. For the most part, I let them sprout where they fall, but occasionally I'll plant some in a seedling tray and bury the tray - that way all my sprouts are in the same place. It takes three growing seasons for the Tigrinum sprouts to reach blooming size.

Hopefully someone who has a method for keeping them from drying out if unplanted for a period of time will chime in with their secret. I don't think putting them in the refrigerator is the answer.

I will have to do some research, but I think I may have the Lillium Tigrinum. Last year I kept the bubils in a bowl at room temperature for about six weeks, then transfered the bowl to the refrigerator.