Last fall I planted a bunch of pansies in the bare flower bed in a corner by the back door of my apt. building. Syrprisingly, most of them made it through the winter & were blooming in March, even through a couple dustings of snow. They were also multiplying, which was great. A few gaps were in the flower beds, so I bought some new plants to fill in, though they look more spindly than last years'. My iris bulbs also sprouted & finally bloomed, so now they don't look like a row of onions in the back. At their zenith, there was 10 iris flowers blooming at once. They're my favorite flower, so all that rich purple was lovely to behold.
   A former neighbor had planted hostas last year, which returned, but they aren't very big yet, so I put circles of petunias around them, which adds some color. The petunias are next to the pansies, but the 2 sections are divided by a drainage pipe. The photos don't capture how lush the pansies are or the shades of the petunias, but you get an idea. Those areas had been bare dirt for 4 or 5 years since the maitenence   crew cut down the forsythia bushes, so all the flowers are a welcome change.