Hi all,

Thankyou for your quick replies and suggestions. I was hoping for a split second it would be peony shoots, but the colour and shape is much too harsh.

It's looking a lot like the horsetail suggestions. Though some other friends have mentioned it may be coltsfoot, which it resembles too.

It's basically in a sheet covered bed (with gravel on top) that also houses 2 palms. 1 large tree and a second smaller bush kind.

So I guess my little snakes head could be from the spores of the palm or horsetail - or other such weed nasty... and not any form of flowering bulb like I first thought!

Either way, I'm not fussed about having more palms, nor do I like the idea that horsetail is bad for wildlife, given several cats in our neighbourhood (2 being our own!)

I think it's time to start digging up and even crack out the herbiscide...

Thanks to you all again!