not so shrinking violet

Ahh - the violet.  So delicate, so ephemeral.
Well, that's what I thought before I accepted a donation from a gardening buddy down the street.  Now, a few years later, they have morphed into a huge, impenetrable mat that chokes out anything in its path.

I have let these invasives get out of hand.  I should have done away with them a long time ago, but now I'm in the mood for battle.  The mats are very firmly anchored to the soil, and I have had to pry up each clump using superhuman strength I didn't know I had.

These violets have spread in three different flower beds, so I have lots of work to do.

There is also a patch of lily of the valley that is an unsightly mess - that has to go as well.