The New Year may be white or brown depending on where you live, but there's potential for bright colors in your garden. Now is the time to plan your annual and perennial flower gardens for this spring.

Annual flowers, such as marigolds and zinnias, bloom their heads off from early in the season until fall frost. Growing annual flowers is a great way to add instant color to garden beds, containers, and hanging baskets. However, annuals only last one year and need to be replanted every year.

Perennial flowers, such as rudbeckias, daisies, and coneflowers, take longer to start flowering and tend to flower only at certain times during the growing season. But they can last for years and actually increase in size and number of flowers as time goes on.

Planting a combination of annual and perennial flowers is a good way to add instant and long-term color, texture, and variety to your garden. Consider planting them with shrubs or even among your vegetables and herbs.

While you can buy a multitude of flowers in garden centers in spring, it's easy to start them from seed this winter to get more plants for less money. Some flowers, such as rudbeckias and coneflowers, need to be started indoors and then transplanted when they're large enough to go outside. Others, such as zinnias, cosmos, and nasturtiums, can be directly sown in the garden once the soil has warmed.

Here are some of the easiest flowers to grow in your garden. Check the seed packets for the proper time to start seeds in your area.

Low-growing annual flowers, such as alyssum, dianthus, and nasturtiums, are great for using in hanging baskets and containers or as edging in front of a garden bed.

Alyssum(http://www.willhiteseed.com/proddetail.php?prod=F011) stands only inches tall, yet over the summer it will spread its white or pink flowers into a sizable mound. It has a sweet fragrance and grows well in sun or part shade.

Nasturtiums (http://www.willhiteseed.com/proddetail.php?prod=F018) come in mounding varieties, such as 'Jewel', as well as vining varieties. The bright yellow, orange, or red flowers are not only colorful, they also are edible and have a peppery flavor.

Thumbelina zinnias (http://www.willhiteseed.com/proddetail.php?prod=F022) are smaller versions of this classic large cut flower. They come in a range of flower colors, such as scarlet, white, orange, pink, and yellow. They make great container plants since they are best viewed up close.