There are actually quite a few fish you can keep in ponds, especially in your area. Topminnows and some other killifish, many livebearers, paradise fish, golden shiners, rosy reds, mudminnows, and banded sunfish (Enneacanthus) are all possibilities. Your options are wide open with plants; just visit a local pond center, nursery, or home improvement center to see which plants you like.
To answer some questions from your other thread- you can keep predatory fish in a relatively small pond, but you're going to have to feed them just as you would in a tank. You only need a giant pond if you want a self-sustaining system of predator and prey fish.