In February you can continue planting cold weather annuals such as pansies, dianthus, snapdragons and chard. They will continue to bloom for you well into April. Spring is all about color in the garden. Annuals add value to our garden space by adding big, showy, colorful blooms for a particular season, often adding the instant “wow factor” to our green spaces. Because annuals are short lived, grow quickly and bloom almost continuously, they provide maximum color for the yard scape instantly. Oppositely, perennials usually hit their full stride in the second year of their lives or later. Many perennials stop blooming for a period after being transplanted as they adjust to their new surroundings and set their roots.