The winter garden might not look like much right now, but Big Muhly never fails to impress, no matter the season. It’s one of my favorite plants in the garden during the cold season, even though there’s scarcely any green visible.
The seedheads criss-cross themselves, but I don’t see a blockade. Instead I see a welcome sign.
Big Muhly is also known as Lindheimer’s Muhly, and it’s endemic to the Edwards Plateau here in central Texas. It can grow to be some 5 feet tall in no time. Birds love it as nesting material, and it provides great cover for small wildlife, like lizards. Look how lovely it looks with Goldenrod in the spring, as seen at the Wildflower Center…
And with Fall Aster in the fall, in my backyard….
What’s extra nice about Big Muhly is that I don’t have to do much to it to take care of it — trimming it can actually do more harm than good, so I just let it be. And in return it gives me a beautiful show… all year long.
I like these grasses that stay around and provide winter interest – all i have at the minute is ead stuff and weeds. This flowering grass looks very useful and adaptable.
I have come to love the Lindheimer’s Muhly here in the last few years, too. Talk about drought tolerant!! And it combines so well with lots of perennials! I do trim mine down a little bit and rake out some of the old dried stems in late winter, but other than that it is zero maintenance.
I have always enjoyed different grasses. The fact that this one is both low-maintenance and beautiful in all seasons is even better. I live in Charleston, SC and was not happy when our apartment complex landscapers tried to eradicate an invasive plant growing across our pond. All it ended up doing was destroying most of our gorgeous cat-tails. The deep freeze we’ve been having took care of the “enemy” plant, so was just a waste of time and money. I am optimistic the cat-tails will make a comeback in the spring. Thanks for sharing your beautiful photos. Helps keep our spirits up in the wintry climes.
Beautiful photos! I liked the patters
The Muhly is lovely and looks fantastic in a native plant garden. I like the “low maintenance” part of it too!