Need spring color right now?

After recent snows gave them a dose of moisture, and with temperatures heating up along the Front Range, early spring bulbs are popping up in landscapes and giving us a hint of the color to come. Crocuses, hyacinths, even some daffodils and tulips can be spotted in gardens and flower beds.
The warm days might inspire you to add some color to your landscape. However, keep in mind that April in Colorado could still bring us heavy snowfall or even a freeze. Wait at least six weeks to plant most annuals.
If you must plant flowers soon, consider cool-hardy pansies.

• When purchasing, check with garden center staff that the flowers are ready to plant. Pansies should be hardened off before putting them in the ground. If they have been kept outdoors at the garden center, they are probably hardened off and ready to plant.
• Pansies that have not yet been hardened off need some protected outside time to get used to the outdoors. They need to adjust to night-time temps more than they need sunshine. Keep them outside on the patio in a protected area for about five nights before planting. If there is a frost or hard freeze, bring them indoors.
• Once planted, pansies are frost hardy but will be seriously damaged by a hard freeze. If temps fall below 28 degrees, protect the plants from freeze damage like you would annuals in the early fall. Cover them with household items like sheets, blankets or towels - not plastic.