Grass Growing Through my Bulbs

Have you ever had your grass grow right through your bulbs?  I found a few cases on the net, as some bulbs are quite soft and easily penetrated by aggressive roots.   

I was pulling grass out of the flower bed, where it intermingles (lurks?) with the early spring bulbs.  It is particularly maddening where it grows along with the grape hyacinths (Muscari), because the lawn grass leaves look similar to the grassy grape hyacinth leaves.  I dug out a handful of weeds and grape hyacinths and attempted to separate the two by examining the roots.

Attached roots of grass (right) and two muscari bulbs (center)

This was going well until I found a root that grew BOTH grape hyacinths AND grass.  What monster was this?  These poor young bulbs can't possibly thrive in this situation.

Muscari bulbs move along root like beads on a string

I guess this is a lesson on why to keep weeds (or any invasive/spreading plant) away from bulbs.  I've read that this is also true for lily bulbs. 

Muscari bulbs pulled off grass root

Note holes in the bulbs

Pulsatilla vulgaris

I plan to collect seeds from my collection of multiple shapes and colors of Pulsatilla vulgaris.  These are quite similar in appearance to Pulsatilla patens, which grows wild over many areas of northern Europe and North Americal  They are quite drought-tolerant once established.  They will drop seed and make new plants fairly often.  Mine grow well on a sunny, dry slope. 

It was a beautiful day today.  Float planes were out this past week and the thin layer of lake ice is looking like its time is short.  Ducks have paired off and are waddling around the marshes, while we are seeing the first of the flying insects. 

The raised bed is waiting for the rest of the perennials to appear

My three year old was probably trying to tell about the insects today when she said she saw "something in the air, but it wasn't even a vampire bat, it was just a little flying creature".  Rest assured that there are no vampire bats in La Ronge, but the blackflies and mosquitoes are comparable pests in my opinion.

Daffodils in the garden today