AUSTIN, Texas — The Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center is home to all sorts of native Texas plants.

It takes a team to make the gardens at the center grow.

Horticulturist Amy Galloway has been working with plants for 10 years.

“I love being outside. I like tending to the plants. I feel like it's very relaxing,” said Galloway.

She says part of her job is education, teaching the rest of us what to do in our gardens. If you’ve been itching to get outdoors and start digging, January may not be the time.

“Generally with planting, the best time to do that with your trees, your shrubs, your woody perennials, is all going to be in the fall,” said Galloway.

Winter is the time to leave things you’ve already planted alone. You might think the cold snap is harming your plants. But looks can be deceiving.

“Some of your larger plants, perennials, will die back with a freeze. It looks potentially unsightly and you want to run out there with your pruners and cut it back, but I would say wait,” said Galloway.

That’s because if it warms up again, new growth can form. Then, in true Texas fashion, the weather takes another dive.

“Then that tender growth is very susceptible to cold. A really great thing to do is add mulch. That mulch is going to be another layer of insulation. It helps regulate extreme temperatures, both cold and hot. It also retains water and moisture in there for your plants,” said Galloway.