The beauty, or perhaps I should say glory, has now faded from the array of small spring blooming trees that dot many of our landscapes. My mind wonders if some of these are heroes and others should be relegated to the jayvee team.

It started last winter when I received a call from a grounds maintenance person from one of the largest companies in the area. His boss loved flowering cherry trees, but the crew was faced with near-ugly by mid to late summer.

Cherries, ornamental and fruiting, face a number of leaf fungi, which left untreated, will almost denude the tree by late summer or early fall. Young cherry trees are a bit winter tender, which may contribute to cherry's reputation as short lived. I would define short as 15 to 30 years.

My pink dogwoods that are of native extraction, were showstoppers this spring. I have them planted in an airy spot and so far they have escaped the diseases that have greatly reduced the dogwood population in its native location. Some have switched to the later blooming Kousa dogwood, which is disease resistant.

More recently, there are hybrids that incorporate just enough resistant blood into the natives to make than resistant. I have about a dozen in the ground and am very pleased to date.

Serviceberry is another favorite native small tree. It is often seen as a large multi-stemmed shrub. It's a white cloud when it blooms and provides good berries for the birds. Its fault is that given high temperatures or rain the blooms fade almost overnight. They last only three or four days under perfect conditions.

Magnolias come in sizes ranging from nearly 10 feet to trees in excess of 30 feet. They originate from the maritime climates of eastern Asia. Here, they can be surprised by early warm-ups followed by stiff frosts. They were great this spring but suffer once every three to five seasons.

We can't forget the tall skinny Bradford pear that is, or more likely was, a favorite a few years ago. I've already defined its shortcomings by describing it habit. Any time you have a branch at a tight angle to the central stem, it is weaker. I have seen lots of fatal breakage in this pear, but still have some near 20-year-old specimens that are beautiful in the spring.

More recently there have been pear introductions that give wider branching and thus better trees.

Flowering plums and redbuds travel the same road of cherries, with the redbud holding out against the fungal diseases a little bit better.

Finally, there is one that is quite uncommon. Blooming now, it's a native called fringe tree or old man's beard. Blue berries, that the birds will swarm, follow the blooms. The Latin is Chionanthus virginicus.

Did I answer my original question? No. I've got all but the cherries currently in my landscape and I have a few pots of them looking for the right spot. Each has its faults, but you will never convince me of that during the spring bloom.