JUNE IS BUSTING OUT ALL OVER MY GARDEN

My garden is so good to me. I have shamefully neglected it this year, and in return it gives me the most glorious clolor show ever! The most colorful are the volunteer plants, which I welcome. The first arrivals are the oxalis, as early as February, offering a dazzling bed of yellow to brighten winter days. Then come the forget-me-nots -- dainty blue flowers to balance the yellow brightness.

But that is all past. Now the stars are the nasturtiums and the verbena. The volunteer nasturtiums span the color spectrum from light yellow to deep red, and the verbena round out the color chart with hues from light pink to deep rose. The daisies, poppies and potato vine give a white accent.

Tomorrow I'll be out there taking charge of things. I'm itching to dig my fingers into the soil, and I finally have some time. Though I hadn't planned it this way, I'll be hanging around the house a lot this week-end, since my car was just towed to the mechanic's, and am without wheels. (It could have been dangerous if it happened on the road, but as it is, I'm out a few hundred dollars, and have a little involuntary at-home time. Not a bad thing.)

Pruning, planting, working the compost any chance I get. My neighbors think I'm crazy to spend so much time piddling around in the garden, but that is where I feel most at peace. After co-habiting with my plants all these years, I understand them well -- the life cycles and the water/drought cycles. I've learned that some plants won't make it to the next year, but other will flouish and take their place. I've gotten to know the perennials over the years, enough to know that they are each as uniques as we humans, and have their own watering, pruning and space needs, so obvious if we only tune in.

My garden keeps my sane.