Yesterday my husband was outside in our garden taking Christmas family photos for some friends. The backdrop ended up being the tall plumes of Lindheimer’s muhly. As I viewed the photos, I was reminded how they have become the bones of my backyard winter garden. Even as I sit here and write, I watch the fine-textured, erect, almost silvery seed heads wave back and forth in the brisk north wind. In early spring the sparrows race back and forth from the grasses to the purple martin house (which has yet to attract purple martins!) filling their beaks with the dried leaves for nesting material. All summer long the blue-green foliage is striking.

This low-maintenance Texas native grass is perfect for the organic garden. Some years I cut it back, some years when I forget, I just comb through it to remove the old growth. It likes a minimum of water, once established, and can tolerate a variety of soils as long as they are well drained. There are several other grasses in our garden - this is, by far, my favorite.

One of the important premises of gardening organically is planting the right plant in the right place. One of the more common complaints we hear is that the grass will not grow under trees. Just try to live one summer in north Texas without a tree in the yard! So instead of complaining and instead of trimming trees so far up that they no longer resemble a tree, plant understory trees, shrubs, perennials and shade-loving groundcovers.

The blossoms of a Mexican plum in the springtime will delight you as will the exquisite foliage of a Japanese maple in the fall. Oakleaf hydrangea and American beautyberry are easy-care native shrubs. Columbines provide color in the spring, the red “fez” of the Turk’s cap invites hummingbirds in the summer and the yellow bloom of ligularia adds color to the fall shade garden. Fill in with autumn, holly and wood ferns, inland sea oats, ophiopogon, liriope, sweet violets and horseherb and you will no longer complain about “nothing” growing under your tree!

I am always on the lookout for easy to care indoor plants. Anyone can succeed with tillandsia, commonly known as “air plants”. They are actually bromeliads, native to southern United States, as well as Mexico, Central and South America. These fascinating plants grow on rocks and trees without soil.

Find a spot in your house with bright filtered light and good air circulation and they will be happy. In the winter months, they will even take direct sunlight. Thoroughly wet them two to three times per week. Plants should dry in no longer than four hours. Do not leave them in standing water. Fertilize bi-monthly with a Superthrive solution. Optimum temperature is 50 to 90 degrees. Once the plant has grown to maturity, it blooms for a month or two. After blooming, new plants will form around the base.

They vary in hues and sizes. Single small ones look great in hanging glass balls, or in a small glass bowl. Large specimens or clusters of smaller ones are striking in a large open bowl of wood or glass - simple, yet elegant.

I am going out to plant - what do I need?

Just as the right knives, frying pans and proper ingredients make cooking a pleasure, so do the proper tools and products in the organic garden. All of my garden beds have long ago been prepared with organic matter. Each year, organic fertilizers, compost and mulch are added. Even so, each time I plant, I go to my little shed and bring out my supplies.

I put on my favorite West County gloves. A Korean hand plow is used for digging holes, a Hori-Hori knife for slicing root-bound plants. If I need to prune, my old reliable Felco pruner is ready for action.

As I dig each hole, I put in a handful of earthworm castings, which are full of nutrients that plants love. We think so highly of it that it is one of the ingredients in our potting soil and many of our specialty organic foods. The root of the plant and the planting hole are soaked with a liquid seaweed solution. After planting, the area is covered with either a shredded cedar or hardwood mulch.

Simple, basic tools and ingredients for successful organic gardening!