They look like a rhizome of some sort of plant. My first thought was Iris cristata or maybe Bloodroot, but I'm not sure. Both of these grow right at surface level.

Kevin

Could it be a Lily of the valley rhizome? They weren't in this garden, yet, but have spread to others....

its awful early.. to be thinking lily didnt return in z4 ..

crikey.. in z5 MI.;. the soil is still very cold down just a few inches ... and i planted my lily bulbs at least 6 inches down ... so they are going to be late w/o a doubt ...

of course.. you dont define what kind of lily ... you are talking about ... so i might be comparing apples and oranges ...

ken

Oh it was last year they didn't return..I kept waiting and hoping but alas, they never showed. I didn't touch the area in hopes they were just very late. I am replanting with new bulbs as well as established Lilies. They were Asiatics. We had a vole in the back yard, I suppose he could have eaten the bulbs. I was surprised, as they have always looked happy and healthy! Haven't found any of the bulbs, I've dug down looking for them. Its as if they vanished.

One of my first priorities when I moved to this property was to eliminate lily of the valley. It was everywhere and not wanted except for a small patch I left in memory of my mother. Eradicating it involved digging down more than a foot into the soil and cutting the roots--which were more than an inch thick--with pruning shears.

Since it was growing pretty much everywhere, the effort took several weeks. I don't recall seeing anything over the course of that time that even came close to the photo posted above.

Could your bulbs be violets?

Violets are my guess, too.

If not violets, perhaps oxalis.