This is the perfect time to plant pansies and violas. Photos by Doug Oster

Pansies and violas are usually the first "annuals" planted in the garden.

It's still going to get really cold some days, all the way up until mid-May, but these plants can take anything Mother Nature has left.

In my garden there are some fall planted pansies which have overwintered in containers close to the house. They look a little tired and will need a few days of good weather to really get them going.

I've added some new plants to make the containers pop.

Since pansies are cool loving plants, they will need lots of water and some shade as the season progresses. Mine usually give up around July fourth.

When that happens I'll head down to the nursery and substitute other shade loving annuals. By that time they have been discounted, usually half price. Those plants will thrive until frost and then I'll plant pansies again.

My fist planting this season was on March 15th, then again on March 30 and I planted some in the last couple days. I'll probably get one more flat to add too. Before I do that though, I need to figure out how my chickens are escaping their run. They love pansies, even more than a rabbit would!

The succession planting of pansies gives me color for a long time. Five months in the spring, Four or five more months in summer and then at least two or three more during the fall and winter. When you consider some will stay all winter, there's color almost year round.

I love playing with the color combinations, there are no wrong choices.

Pansies and violas are bright and cheery and get spring started on the right foot.

I got these pots on sale at a Rite Aid last fall, they were almost giving them away. The watering can was a Christmas gift from my radio partner Jessica Walliser. I love it!

Spruce up the entryway to the house with pansies and violas. They will benefit from being close to the house. They get protection from the wind and the warmth of the house will keep them happy when it's cold.

One lone blue viola in a sea of yellow. Doesn't it make you happy?

This is the last weekend for the Spring Flower Show at Phipps Conservatory and Botanic Gardens. The theme is The Secret Garden and it's a wonderful show. Try to get out and see it. With the nice weather you might even see something blooming in the outdoor garden.

Here's a video from KDKA's Pittsburgh Today Live.

This bunch of onion plants are going in the garden today. Wish me luck! Photo by Doug Oster

Onions are one of those crops which can be planted as soon as the soil can be worked.

My garden is still too wet, so I'm dumping a load of compost on a bed and planting in that.

I have a terrible track record for growing onions although the garlic does great. My wife gets a laugh out of the golf ball sized onions I harvest every year.

My guess is I just don't have enough sun. I've prepared one of my sunnier beds and will cross my fingers again this season.

There are many different ways to start onions. Some gardeners start seeds inside, then plant the tiny seedlings in the garden. Others will use sets sold just about everywhere this time of the year. They look like tiny onions.

My radio partner Jessica Walliser has done a lot of research about planting sets and says it's actually best to choose the smaller sized bulbs, they will make the biggest onions. Sets are onions started last season and pulled at a certain size. The bigger ones have used more energy to get that size and won't make the largest onions.

I'm starting with plants this year. I got them from Chapon's Greenhouse. What luck I've had with onions is from starting with plants.

I'll planting them in good compost, the right distance apart, they will be mulched with straw in a sunny spot and will keep them watered and fertilized.

If it doens't work this year, I'll do the same thing I do every year...try again next season.

We all need a little dose of humility and the garden can be just the place to get it.

I love when the post office puts out these stamps for gardeners and plant lovers. I also love vintage seed packets, so these stamps will be a must for me. Check out the artwork. They will be available starting Friday April 5, 2013.

From the USPS-The beauty of American garden flowers is captured on 10 colorful new stamps featuring intricate illustrations from vintage seed packets. Art director Antonio Alcalá used photographs of actual seed packets, cropping them to highlight the beautiful floral detail. Above each illustration is the name of the flower in bold capital letters.

Created using chromolithography — a process that replaced hand-tinted lithographs and allowed for inexpensive multi-color prints — the illustrations originally graced the fronts of flower seed packets printed between 1910 and 1920. Whether hand-tinted lithographs, vintage chromolithographs, or modern photographs, seed packet art presents a picture of floral perfection.

Each of the 10 stamps depicts blossoms of one variety of flower — a trio of cosmos in delicate white, pink, and red; stalks of yellow, pink and coral digitalis; bright yellow primrose flowers with orange centers; a vibrant orange calendula; white, pink and blue aster blooms; two shades of pinks (dianthus), one pale, one dark; linum blossoms in a rich red; white drifts of alyssum; clusters of phlox in red, pink and purple; and pale pink, subtle yellow, and muted orange-red zinnia flowers.

There's more information here.