GINA PARKINSON, up with the lark for a morning run, encounters a popular shrub in a local park

I KNOW spring is here when my day starts increasingly early with the noise of the birds and light skies waking me at about 5.30. Not wanting to disturb the rest of the house with my restlesness, I get up and go for a run around deserted streets and through dewy parks.

It is a wonderful time of the day with the sun a shiny flat pale orange disc in a warm grey sky and the grass green and fresh. There is so much to observe that I am able to forget my heavy legs and aching lungs for a short while.

The trees in the small park near us are beginning to bud. The massive horse chestnuts will soon be covered in new pale leaves that are beginning to break through their protective covers. Three silver birch stand in a group in the grass, their white bark clean and pure and the branches still bare of leaves.

Clumps of daffodils spread under the trees and in the beds and lawns, while Daphne mezereum sends out its fragrance long before we spot the clusters of purple flowers.

This deciduous early spring-flowering shrub is popular and will grow in well-drained humus rich soil in sun or light shade.

At its best in February and March, the flowers will sometimes last into April, after which it fades into the background and should be planted with shrubs and plants that have late spring and summer interest.

On warm days the masses of starry flowers will attract bees and other insects tempted outside by the rise in temperature.

Updated: 12:39 Saturday, March 29, 2003