There's still time to plan a memorable summer if you act now!

With the first day of spring comes a sense of relief: The weather warming; flowers blooming; trees budding. Winter worries fade with the prospect of summer ahead.

Not so fast. A good summer is going to take some preparation. And you need to start right now -- not a moment later.

Here are six things you need to do now to ensure your summer season is sweet.

''Mom, I'm bored!''

You're a little behind on the camp registration schedule, but there's still time to find a great place to park the kids.

According to an American Camp Association survey taken last spring, most sleepaway campers sign up between June and November but 10 percent of campers register between March and June. January is high season for day-camp registration, but a full quarter of campers sign up between March and June.

If you're just starting the process, Marla Coleman, past president of the ACA, said the first move is to talk with your children about their interests and what kind of camp they'd be comfortable in.

''There is a camp for every child. That sounds trite but it's true,'' said Coleman, who owns Camp Echo in the Catskills and Coleman's Country Day Camp on Long Island, both in New York.

Next, hit the Web. There are comprehensive camp lists compiled by groups such as the ACA that do some of the filtering for you. (The ACA database can be found at Campparents.org)

Once you've come up with a list, start calling camp directors. Try to get a sense of the camp culture to find the place that best matches your family's style, she said.

Once you've found one both you and your child like, ask about availability. Don't be completely disheartened if you're relegated to a waiting list. It's not uncommon for spaces to open up later, Coleman said. Also, don't take it as a bad sign if there is indeed room at this late date. Camps often have some wiggle room in enrollments, depending on the age and sex of the would-be campers who've already signed up.

''Yikes! I have to wear shorts!''

If you've neglected your skin during the long, dry winter, you'll need six to eight weeks to get it back into summer shape.

''For an effortless look -- that smooth skin with a summer glow -- you can only get that by preparing early,'' said Noella Gabriel, director of product and treatment development at Elemis, a chain of upscale spas, with locations in London, Las Vegas and Florida, among other spots.

She recommends at least three body exfoliations, a skin wrap (either an oil- or seaweed-based one) and a couple of facials. Figure about a treatment a week.

Winter skin tends to be dry and scaly, and a tan on top of that could add years to your appearance, Gabriel warns. And even during the summer, she said to continue with the exfoliation-and-moisturizing routine. ''A tan is only attractive when it is cared for. Gone are the days when peeling skin is OK. It really is a mess.''

A spa, of course, will make sure no square inch of skin is missed. But you can also do some home treatments.

Gabriel recommends starting with a salt-based scrub that leaves the skin feeling soft and conditioned; if skin feels tight following the treatment it's just feeding the problem. Focus the exfoliation on the knees, elbows, backs of arms and shoulders, and heels.

After the scrub, moisturize with an oil, not a cream, Gabriel advises. ''A cream just is not enough when you're going for flawless. It just sits on the surface.''

You need several rounds of the skin treatments because ''the skin is very thirsty,'' she explains. ''You need more than one good treatment to get you that perfect.''

''Why is our yard so ugly?''

You can still have a spring garden even if you didn't plant spring-flowering bulbs in time, last fall. And you certainly can still find bulbs that will give you summer flowers.

These ideas are laid out in detail in Katherine Whiteside's new book, ''The Way We Garden Now'' (Potter, 2007), and they're equally adaptable for small spaces in the city or wide country spreads.

First: For an instant spring garden, create a small ''spring spot'' using containerized plants. Buy early bloomers such as primroses or violets and keep them in their plastic nursery pots, Whiteside suggests.

''Slip the nursery pots inside more decorative clay containers and arrange a sweet spring welcome right next to the front door,'' she said. Spring bloomers will carry on with their springtime shows as long as you keep them watered just as you would any other containerized plants, she explains.

To choose what's right for your region, she said, just go to your local nursery ''and see what they have outside, right now, growing in pots.''

Whiteside, a renowned gardening writer, lives just north of New York City: ''Here you might see red-twig pussy willow, whereas in Southern California they may perhaps have small citruses,'' she said. She mentions other wide-ranging favorites, including bleeding hearts, lungworts -- and ''who could resist primulas?'' Also to consider: ''A dormant fern that you can watch unfurl.''

''Keep it small and simple and smile,'' she said.

For the second project: Look forward to summer and choose bulbs to plant now in pots or in the ground, for a riot of color and fragrance later.

Whiteside thinks first of lilies. Choose lily bulbs that grow roots from buried stems, she said, because stem-rooting lilies will bloom the same year they're planted.

Another easy-growing choice for your plant-now, bloom-later project could be one she speaks of with special enthusiasm: the eye-catching acidanthera, whose bulbs are more correctly called corms. ''Just bang them in a pot,'' she said. They'll grow up to 3 feet tall ''and they smell so good at night.''

''What do you mean you don't

have any more of them?''

Stores start promoting each season earlier and earlier. So by the time you have finally worked your body into bikini shape, it may be too late to find a bikini.

Lori Dolnick remembers when she had to buy boots for a snow-tubing trip in February. But ''all I could find at Target was flip-flops. It's gotten so bad that if I want swim shoes for my kids, I have to buy them in March,'' said Dolnick, vice president of Thacker & Frank Communications in Cranbury, N.J.

''Are retailers so out of touch that they don't realize that we are not so organized that we can guess that far in advance what we might need? Most people I know are very last-minute,'' she said.

Dolnick is not making this up. Last summer, retailers like CVS and Walgreen's were advertising Halloween candy in their Aug. 20 circular, according to Marion Black-Ruffin, director of marketing services for http://www.ShopLocal.com, a shopping service that shows consumers what's on sale in local stores while also allowing them to buy online.

By January, all Target stores stock bathing suits, regardless of location, according to Target spokeswoman Amy von Walter. Target stores in year-round beach destinations do carry swimwear year-round, but in other locations, ''we offer swimwear from mid-January until the end of June,'' she said.

Stores ''are promoting things much earlier,'' Black-Ruffin confirmed. ''Regardless of whether the consumer is ready, the product is going to show up in the store that day.'' That means Valentine's candy in December, patio furniture in February and beach towels in March.

But she said there is a silver lining for consumers in all these early promotions. ''No one is interested in buying patio furniture in Chicago when there is 10 inches of snow,'' she said. Unless the weather turns warm very soon, markdowns are likely.

So if bathing suits are out in January, and you go shopping in March or April, you could benefit. ''Ninety days from the time they receive that inventory, if they still have that inventory, they will mark it down,'' said Black-Ruffin.

And if you're curious about what you'll find on your swimwear hunt, von Walter said trends this year include folkloric prints, combinations of bright colors and earth tones like browns and pinks.

''They're already booked. Now what?''

Perhaps you already have plane tickets, hotel reservations or money down on a beach house rental for the summer. If not, it's time to whip your vacation plans into shape.

Here are some examples of what it's already too late for -- along with some alternatives.

n The $195 and $225 tickets for Burning Man, the annual art festival and encampment in Nevada's Black Rock Desert, Aug. 27-Sept. 3. But the festival's Web site said that the event is not expected to sell out; higher-priced tickets ($250 and $280) are still available; http://www.burningman.com. As for other sold-out events, whether Broadway shows, concerts or major-league sports games, numerous ticket-brokers and sometimes even hotel concierges can often get you in -- but you'll likely pay a premium for the service.

n The very best rentals in popular beach resorts like Cape Cod, Mass. ''We start renting in October for the summer,'' said Michael Leighton of Realty Executives, http://www.capecodrentals.net. ''The choice places go pretty fast.'' If you have your heart set on Cape Cod anyway, Leighton said there are still some listings available; they're just not as close to the beach and have fewer amenities. ''Take a look at what is available now and if there is anything to your liking, pounce on it!'' said Leighton. He added that sometimes rental owners are late in offering their properties, so check back for the occasional new listing.

n Rooms at the Hilton Suites in Ocean City, Md., between July 10 and Aug. 25. The hotel's online availability calendar shows that the oceanfront property is completely sold out during peak season, when rooms go for more than $450 a night. But don't despair -- a check of availability in early March showed that other hotels, such as the local Best Western, were showing rooms for July, and there are plenty of condo and house rentals in the popular beach-and-boardwalk resort as well. ''Alternatively, if you are looking for oceanfront premier property, look for midweek reservations, and check back later in the season, because sometimes there are cancellations,'' said Donna Abbott, public relations director for Ocean City. Or go early, since most of the rides are running by early May; http://www.ococean.com.

n On Broadway, the hottest ticket is still ''Jersey Boys.'' But you can get premium tickets at the box office for as much as $350 each. Check out the Web site, http://www.jerseyboysbroadway.com.

Two contenders for Tonys this June, ''Spring Awakening'' and ''Grey Gardens'' are much easier to get into and should be possibilities for theatergoers coming to New York this summer. (But note that ''Spring Awakening'' is for mature audiences only, as there is some nudity.)

''The farmers' market is open

only when I'm at work.''

Hoping to spend your summer noshing ultra-fresh produce? Then join a local CSA farm.

But act fast. These farms (the name stands for community supported agriculture) have limited slots and they fill up fast. It's best to sign up as early in the year as the farmer allows, but most usually have a few slots left in spring.

If you're not familiar with CSA farms, rest assured these aren't throwbacks to the collectives of the 1970s.

Here's how it works: Consumers purchase ''shares'' in the farm, which entitles them a portion of whatever produce is harvested each week. The price varies by how large a share you want. Each week, you go to a designated place and pick up your share.

Why is this so popular? Farmers love it because unlike traditional agricultural models, they get paid before the crops are even planted. Under traditional agricultural models, they must wait until the crops get to market before they see any cash.

Consumers enjoy it because it provides a steady flow of fresh produce and their money is supporting a local business.

For more information about CSA farms and help finding one near you, checking out the U.S. Department of Agriclture's Web site on the subject: http://www.nal.usda.gov/afsic/pubs/csa/csa.shtml