Mallow is driving me crazy! We can’t get rid of the stuff! So this year (that indicates that we’ve been at this a while) we think we’re going to outsmart it. First, since the stuff just doesn’t die, frost, intense heat, dogs, and so on, we’re going to yank as much out now with our hands covered in mittens and heads in warm fleece caps with hopes that NO seeds will develop or fall into the frozen ground.  Ha! Next, we’re going to cover the ground, AGAIN, where it was growing, with cardboard or old karate mats (yes, old karate mats). Third, we’re going to plant something else on the ground as a cover, or actual landscaping, anything once it’s warm enough for anything else to survive. I tell you, this stuff could grow in the Arctic or the Sahara! Arrrghh! Mallow, you are my nemesis!

http://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/PMG/PESTNOTES/pn74127.html

I've always loved holly especially around Christmas time. I once hand carried a holly wreath home on an airplane after a trip to Seattle. Not wanting to do that too often, I decided I would have to get a holly tree.  I found I would need two trees a male and a female if I wanted berries. My local nursery kindly ordered them for me. (Note this was at least a decade ago). 
     These being my pre- Master Gardener days, I am not sure what variety of holly I have. I suspect it is either Ilex aquifolium, English Holly, or an English Holly cross breed.  I put them promptly into containers where they languished for the next several years.  I finally decided I had to do something so I transplanted them into the ground in my side yard.
     Both trees perked up immediately.  The male tree which got put in the shadier spot is about three feet tall. The female who ended up in the sunnier spot shot up to five feet.  Over the past year or two I was able to pick some sprigs to put into arrangements, but I was afraid to cut too much and didn't have many berries.
     This year the female tree  has exploded with berries.  I even cut enough branches to make my own small holly wreath.  (I now realize why we don't use holly at the wreath workshop, you need major protection for dealing with those spines.)
     I've been trying to watch the berries, but I haven't seen any birds eating them yet. One Internet source suggested that the berries needed a few freezes to soften.  I am going to continue to watch and will see what happens. Robins and mockingbirds are supposed to like them.

Have you ever bought a cute little plant planning to just tuck it in somewhere?  Well that is how my Elephant's Ear began it's life in a narrow raised bed next to my side yard fence. It landed sometime after August 2000 probably as a purchase when I was shopping for roses at the many nurseries along highway 92 near Half Moon Bay. By the way the drive on that highway is ruggedly beautiful with many turns as you travel across the mountains edging the coast.  About a mile before you reach the coast you will notice many nurseries along the road. These places are packed and many specialize in one type of plant such as trees or roses.  Anyway, I am always on the lookout for an unusual succulent and for me Elephant's Ear fits that bill. Formally named Kalanchoe baharensis is a species in the genus Kalanchoe of the Crassulaceae family. Baharensis is thought to have been derived from it's occurrence in Behara, Madagascar.
It has received the British Royal Horticultural Society's AGM designation which indicates it is hardy, pest and disease resistant, and easy care. It is also drought tolerant with overwatering being the main cause of failure. Give it good drainage with full sun or partial shade.

The main appeal of this large succulent are the velvet-to-the-touch leaves. They can reach up to 15 inches in length and almost as wide. Felt like hairs cover the top of each leave with a silvery undercoat. The leave margin is wavy and is tinged with a rust color. At maturity this narrow shrub can reach 12 feet tall. Mine is about 6 feet almost reaching the top of the fence. When mature small yellow-green flowers appear during the winter. I haven't seen them yet.  Keep this plant in a protected space during the winter and you'll be rewarded with quite a specimen.

The start of a new year is a good time to look at the garden and decide what plants look drab and tired and may need to be replaced with something new and fresh.

I did just that out of necessity, I had a Mexican sage, Salvia leucantha that had called the front of my house home for several years. This sage grew so much you could not get a ladder behind it so that the Christmas lights could be put up.  It was so big it covered a white lavender that died from lack of sun and room to grow.   This sage was cut down to the ground last year, this year it came back and grew taller and wider than before and even covered part of my front porch.  The only things left in this space are some rose bushes in the back and a sage called lipstick, which the hummingbirds love; it was also pruned way down.

So now I am starting over with a bare front garden. I am looking at all the garden catalogs that come in the mail to get an idea of what plants I can put there that need full sun most of the day and will leave room for other things to grow.