There was recently a thread about pachysandra and bulbs over on the perennials forum. The gist of it was that the roots of pachysandra are so dense that bulbs cannot come up through it. I have no experience with this, just remember reading it. I have daffodils planted throughout euonymous fortunei, and they work very well together.

Donna, that was my post you are referring to.

I have pachysandra planted in front of my house at the base of my retaining wall and was thinking of adding bulbs for color. Pachysandra was one of three groundcovers that weren't recommended to interplant with bulbs (I don't remember the other two and can't find the article).

The roots of pachysandra are very dense by the third year of growth. You could probably get by with bulbs for the first two years if you really wanted. I had Bishops Weed on the side of my house - couldn't get rid of it for the life of me until I planted pachysandra there. It eventually choked out.

The root system is very extensive, and I learned the hard way. My neighbor decided to get rid of her pachysandra - and silly ol' me thought this was a great opportunity to transplant them into my yard. So my husband and I offered to pull them out for her, not knowing how intertwined the roots would be - they came out in one large messy mass - we threw them in the garbage, and my neighbor got free yard work compliments of the newbie gardeners next door.

Pachy aren't invasive, but they do need to be contained with a border otherwise they will keep expanding outward once they've filled in, which is usually by the third year. But I wouldn't consider them difficult to control by any means.

At planting time, plan on spacing them about 5 inches apart, greater if you don't mind the wait to have them fill in. I would recommend the use of mulch for the first two years until they've filled in. I do water them during dry spells, and use a fertilizer for acid loving plants.

I thin them out annually once they're established to keep a neater appearance, but by that time they are pretty much a low or no maintenance plant. And for me in Wisconsin they're evergreen.

They grow just as well in full sun (along my driveway) and full shade (at the base of my retaining wall). People who walk by our house often ask me what they are. I think they would be an excellent groundcover for what you are trying to achieve with regard to both erosion and curb appeal.

You COULD plant bulbs on the outer perimeter of the border. Or, why not bury small bottomless pots within the pachy bed, and use these designated areas for planting the bulbs each year? The roots of the pachy don't go very deep (maybe 4 inches), so this might work. Just a thought.

As far as the sandy soil, I cannot comment. My soil has a lot of clay. Pachy do grow well under trees, provided there is a good depth of soil. I have a huge maple tree up front - I planted pachy and vinca minor, and vinca wins. The roots of my tree stick out of the ground and there's just no room for the pachy to spread their roots. But my neighbor had them under pine trees and they flourished.

I also came across an article stating that pachysandra IS compatible with spring flowering bulbs:
http://books.google.com/books?id=bkzQdTAbMwwC&pg=PA80&lpg=PA80&dq=planting+bulbs+in+pachysandra&source=web&ots=pjES62KFXu&sig=vC1kJHSEhr_uu-Pns1tBfNUn1uU&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=7&ct=result

And then this one doesn't recommend it:

http://books.google.com/books?id=R0U6B822eZcC&pg=PA34&lpg=PA34&dq=planting+bulbs+in+pachysandra&source=web&ots=hP9bZPF-5-&sig=Z7L52n6LqFWpcUnOZa8Kzy6310U&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=6&ct=result

I did find a pic of tulips in pachy, in the link provided.

Here's a pic of my pachy on the side of my house (this is currently a work in progress). This entire area was originally filled in with pachy, but we had an electric gate installed so I had to remove it b/c the height interfered with the radius of the swing, and I haven't finished the last of what needs to be pulled out. If you look close you can see the roots at the bottom.

{{gwi:19061}}

I hope you are still awake after reading my novel, and I hope this helps in your decision making. :)

-Kim

Here is a link that might be useful: tulips in pachysandra