There is a bright and beautiful side to gardening - the foliage and the blossoms from tiny seedling to spring sprouts to the fruits, vegetables and flowers hanging abundantly and joyously from stalk and vine.

There is a dark and ugly side to gardening. It is not a job for the squeamish. Rodents, spiders, worms, slugs, aphids and a multitude of other unbecoming creatures play in the garden. Some are friendly like the earth worm, keeping the soil aerated; helping plants to take in nutrients. The big orange spider weaving its web in the corner by the lilies may look sinister but when left to do its works will catch insects that damage beloved plants. Some, like the cut worm and slug, are as destructive as they are loathsome.

Gardening teaches us that to be successful we must know and understand the dark underbelly of life just as much as we must be able to discern the various blooms and foliage. We mat not enjoy the dark side as we do the life it expels, but once we understand how it works we need no longer fear it.

There is an opposite state of being from any existing state. There is an equal and opposite reaction to any given action. As much as there is light in our lives, there is darkness as well. Ignoring the dark side or pretending it does not exist serves no one - least of all ourselves. Examining the dark side clinically and dispassionately as one would a bug under a microscope is enlightening. We come to know those dark parts that give us depth and nurture us. It may be the place where we withdraw to lick our wounds. It may be our particular brand of humor that allows us to laugh at ourselves when life slaps us in the face. It may, though, be the insidious worm where jealousy, rage, selfishness, and other forms of fear abide. The destructive pests that infest the garden must be purged. Plucking aphids from the leaves of a plant is unpleasant business but saves the plant. Plucking old grudges and tossing them aside allows for fertile ground where love and joy can flourish.