Raise your hand if you are ready for a pop of color! If you're like us and can't wait to dig in the dirt, we've listed below some of our favorite cold hardy flowers and crops you can plant early spring.

The weather in Oklahoma City is almost warm enough to plant early spring flowers - yay! (OKC falls into Zone 7a on the USDA Plant Hardiness Map.) Our favorite cold tolerant flowers are snapdragons, alyssum and petunias. All these flowers are in the picture above - the snapdragons are in the back, the alyssum on the left and the petunias are on the right. These pretties are not as cold hardy as pansies, but they can tolerate a light freeze.

Kansas City is quite a bit colder than Oklahoma City (USDA Plant Hardiness Zone 5b), so it will be a few weeks until you are able to plant. When it is warm enough, you will be able to plant hellebores, snapdragons, pansies, stock, osteospermum and ornamental cabbage.

As far as cold weather veggie and herb crops go, your options are cilantro, lettuces, dill, spinach, strawberries, kale and broccoli. These can all be easily planted in a container and you could even put several into one pot. It's go-time in OKC to plant these crops but still too early in KC.

If you are ever in doubt as far as selecting plants and when to plant them, we highly recommend chatting up the knowledgeable people who work at your local garden center. They can tell you when it is time to plant without risk of a freeze. Our favorite garden centers in OKC are TLC and Precure. In KC, our faves are Family Tree Nursery and Suburban Lawn & Garden.

Happy (almost) planting!