During the past several days I have been required three times to be someplace at 8 a.m. I get up at 6:45, but to be dressed, coiffed, have on my mortuary make-up and be someplace at that time is still a push, and should involve cash in some way.

I know about getting up and getting out. With six children, I spent 30 years in the public school system, longer than many teachers, and I didn’t get even a gold watch. Now that I am __ years old, I don’t like being involved with the world at 8 a.m.

The only thing that enabled me to accept the relatively early hour was to see many beautiful spring-flowering trees with the early morning sun on them.

The usual time to plant these trees, which are almost all deciduous, is in the late fall or winter while they are dormant. However, you may not remember them at planting time so I want to point you to them now. Look for these trees around our area and make a note to yourself to plant them this fall for next spring’s beauty:

Redbud (Judas tree) — May reach 35 feet tall and spread to 30 feet, with tiny red blooms that cover the branches before the five-inch-long, heart-shaped leaves appear. The redbud stays in bloom for several weeks and is a beautiful tree.

Flowering cherries — There are several, all beautiful, light and airy-looking. The Yoshiro will grow to 40 feet and as wide with usually pink but sometimes white single blooms. The higan or weeping cherry will reach 30 feet and as wide, and is spectacular with its downward weeping branches.

Saucer magnolia (Soulangiana) — A medium-sized tree, it will grow to 25 feet and as wide. It has white and purple-pink cup-shaped flowers that open as they mature.

Flowering almond — This is a beautiful tree with light pink blooms that cover the tree. It also produces almonds in the fall.

Plums (Prunus) — There are many of these, some grown primarily for their spring bloom, but most also produce fruit.

Quince — These are more shrub than tree, growing about five feet tall with reddish-orange blooms before the leaves show. Blooms last even after the leaves arrive.

Flowering crabapple (Malus) — These are among the most beautiful spring-flowering trees and grow to about 20 feet tall. There are several varieties with blooms of deep pink, red, rose-pink, etc.

Pears — The fruiting pears are in bloom now, as is the ornamental Bradford pear, a sure sign of spring in our area.

Both the pink and the white dogwoods are beginning to bloom. Soon we’ll see the fringe tree, Osmanthus or sweet olive (sometimes called tea olive), azaleas and many others. But for the moment we’ll enjoy the early spring trees, which you should plant for next year.

Maybe I’ll even be up and about at 8 a.m. to see them.