BY MIMI ZEIGER
Marijuana wafts across the California landscape as legalization of recreational use approaches.
FROM THE OCTOBER 2017 ISSUE OF LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE MAGAZINE.
Ed Rosenthal grows weed. He has for decades. The Oakland, California-based horticulturist, author, and activist is the go-to expert on home cultivation. He?s written more than a dozen books on the subject and the policies that surround medical marijuana and legalization. Their titles fall somewhere between what you?d see in your local nursery and your corner head shop: The Big Book of Buds (volumes one through four), Marijuana Garden Saver, and Marijuana Pest & Disease Control.
?Growing is addictive,? Rosenthal says with a laugh, and then quickly clarifies that the drug is not. ?Given the right conditions and a sunny backyard, marijuana can be grown almost anywhere in California.? He speaks poetically about marijuana?s diverse morphology: It has male and female plants. Some are tall, some wide, and there are different strains like indica or sativa that range in color?like heirloom tomatoes?from absinthe yellow?green to maroon and deep purple. To cultivate cannabis for its THC (tetrahydrocannabinol) and psychoactive properties, only the female plants are grown. The male plants look a bit like wild mustard; the female plants are the ones that produce buds for consumption. ?With humans and cannabis, the female is considered more beautiful,? he explains. ?I have a bunch of marijuana plants growing, and...