Photos by NATALIE CAUDILL/DMN

Whether it's wildflowers in the spring (left), cosmos in summer (below) or goldenrod in fall (above), now's a great time to teach kids to dream about and plan their garden projects.

As their fall vegetables and blooms fade, it's easy for young gardeners to see that everything has its season. There's still gardening that can be done, but winter tends to provide time to reflect and plan.

First, be thankful for the gardening successes you've had last year and the food or flowers you've enjoyed. Then, move on to the step after successful growing: cleaning up.

Gather old plants and throw them onto a compost pile. Talk about how the old bits of squash vine and tree leaves and wilted marigolds will decompose and create a mixture that can be used on next year's garden to help new plants grow well.

And while we're talking about such teachable moments, don't be afraid to be specific about what happens when plants and creatures die. Kids generally have a better grasp of how things work than we give them credit for.

I remember walking across the street years ago to introduce myself to new neighbors. My then-5-year-old son was trying to make pleasant conversation with the lady of the house.

"My lizard died, and we buried it," he said, obviously not well schooled in what constitutes pleasant meeting-your-new-neighbor conversation.

Unsure of how to react to this proclamation, the very nice woman asked whether the lizard was in heaven.

My son, looking and sounding a bit incredulous that someone of her age would lack this basic understanding of creation, replied, "No, it decomposed."

So it had. After your own lesson in composting, start thinking about next year's gardening efforts. Those plans ought to include some consideration of the past year's failures.

Which brings me to my second bit of unsolicited gardening-with-kids advice: Allow your children to fail.

Sure, when the tomato plants don't produce tomatoes, it may be tempting to pick up a few red beauties in the produce aisle and try to pass them off as home-grown.

Or when your 3-year-old happily waters the flowers so much that they drown, you may feel the urge to plant new ones and pretend nothing happened.

I have, in fact, heard such things proposed to avoid discouraging the very young gardener.

Resist temptation. Don't lie. Don't cover up.

Kids aren't likely to be fooled. And when they realize that you are fibbing, you will have set a bad example.

If you happen to get away with the deceit, you will simply be furthering unrealistic expectations.

That doesn't mean you shouldn't encourage success and provide help. Here are some basics to help ensure a successful gardening experience:

•Explain to your young gardener what plants need to grow: sunlight for making food in the leaves, water and nutrients and oxygen in the soil.

•Make sure a new planting area is well prepared so that seeds or transplants don't have to fight weeds and grasses to survive.

•Make the planting area easy for a child to reach.

•Use fresh seeds and healthy transplants.

•Give the child a garden chart or journal so he or she can check off or write details about watering and other conditions.

•Let children do as much as possible, but don't leave younger children to their own devices and expect a garden to succeed. They'll need reminders and help to manage watering and weeding.

Then, try to correct some of the things that didn't work.

Sometimes, things happen beyond your control, such as days upon days of rain. (Did anyone else have seeds that rotted in the ground last year?)

However, even problems such as an overabundance of rain may be surmountable. Planting in raised beds, in which soil can drain easily, could give seeds a better chance of survival even in a wet year.

If a particular variety of beans didn't produce well, you might plan to try something else.

Ask a successful neighbor what he or she is growing, get some advice from a local nurseryman or call Texas Cooperative Extension for suggestions.

Learn about this year's problem pests and be ready to rotate crops or to sprinkle diatomaceous earth or other remedies before the critters chew up this year's plants.

Do at least some of this analysis, plotting and planning with your children.

Spend a few winter days curled up with the kids and talk about what they'd like to see blooming and growing around your home. That's always in season.

Rebecca Perry of Milford is a longtime gardener and mother of eight.