LADY BUG: MANY FLOWERING TREES, SHRUBS BLOOMING EARLY THIS YEAR

What an early, beautiful spring this has been! Our mild winter has brought out the best of the flowering trees and shrubs, all at one time. Many of these blooms were three weeks early.

Daffodils, tulips, azaleas, creeping phlox, flowering crabs, redbuds, whitebuds, flowering peach, flowering plum, purple-leaf plum flowering pear, lilacs, kerria, spirea, sweet William, azaleas, magnolia soulangeana, perennial candy tuft and Bradford pears, are all blooming at the same time.

When asking about putting plants outside, the answer is often "When all danger of frost is past." Early records show that in 1982 there were 12 nights of freezing temperatures during April, and the last frost was April 23. On April 17, 1983, the Cardinal baseball game was called in St. Louis because of snow. The late Mrs. Tom Harris wrote that on Arbor Day, April 7, 1983, there was a 40-degree drop in the temperature and they almost froze planting trees in Capaha Park.

Watch the weather and do not be too hasty in putting plants outside or uncovering perennials, roses and shrubs.

One of the best things about spring is that regardless of the unpredictable weather -- drought, storms, freezes and unseasonable warmth -- most plants leaf out and bloom during spring.

While the blooming period of some flowers may vary as much as several weeks from year to year, others keep fairly close to a regular schedule.

Experts have measured the advancement of spring by observing the bud development of certain shade trees. Among the best of these indicator trees are the red and silver maples and the hackberry.

In these observations it was found the red maple is the most dependable indicator. This is one of the few trees that can be found from Florida to Quebec, Canada. It is one of the first to flower in the spring and may also be caught in a late freeze.

Arbor Day is tree-planting time. It is celebrated in Missouri Friday. It is recognized in all 50 states, but on different dates because of the variation in suitable tree-planting seasons.

In Missouri, Arbor Day was first observed in 1886. For many years, it was celebrated the first Friday after the first Tuesday in April Just a year ago it was changed to the first Friday in April, a far simpler means of calculation.

Through the more than 100 years it has been observed, Arbor Day has had varying popularity. Present interest in conservation of trees makes Arbor Day more meaningful because of the great part trees play in making the environment more beautiful and in producing the many products we use daily.

Trees properly selected and planted can add more in livability to our homes than any other landscape feature. Make sure the trees planted for Arbor Day get a good start so they will survive for future Arbor days and generations.

Recommended trees for shade include sugar, red and Norway maples; pin oak, black, white and river oak; black gum (the ball-less kind), river birch, European beech, green ash, gingko, and bald cypress.

Desirable ornamental trees include Japanese maple, flowering dogwood, redbud, star magnolia, Bradford pear and disease-resistant varieties of crabapple.

Recommended evergreens include white pine, Norway spruce, various hollies, hemlock junipers, and yews.

In selecting trees for the home landscape, you should be aware of growth habits, maturity size and growth rate, as well as leaf shape, flower color, fall color and fruits.

Remember, trees are planted for the next generation, and there is no better way to teach children the value of trees than letting them share in the selection and planting of them.

There are many of us who deplore the radical pruning of forsythia. These golden-yellow, fountain-like, graceful branches are often snipped in shaving brush fashion or large balls or cubes to form yellow mounds of globs.

There is a correct way to prune forsythia, and a neat article in the May issue of Flower and Garden Magazine, by Rita Pelcar, describes the procedure perfectly. Flower buds for next year's blooms develop right after they bloom. Therefore, all pruning should be immediately after the shrub finishes blooming, before next year's buds have formed.

Since the best flowering of forsythia is from the young branches, it is best to remove the old stems right down to the ground. By removing old, poorly flowering shoots, you encourage the growth of the strong, better-flowering branches that have a cascading habit.

The technique of removing the oldest wood to the crown is known as renewal pruning. This technique also can be applied to other spring flowering shrubs, including weigela, mock orange, deutzia, kerria and lilacs.

When spring flowering shrubs have become old, neglected and cease flowering to any extent, there is a drastic method (which we applied to a tired forsythia), and that is to cut it to the ground. If this is not desirable, it is also recommended to remove about one third of the growth.

These are tough plants and none of this pruning disturb their root system. All will benefit from removing a portion of the branches.

For future golden beauty in the landscape, prune immediately after the golden blossoms have faded. Hopefully, next year's crop will be as lush and full as this spring's crop.

~Mary Blue is an avid gardener and resident of Cape Girardeau.