cannabis seedling Column: Josh Reilly Columns Gardening 

Growing Cannabis

Riding the Mighty Cannabis Wave By Josh Reilly We are presently riding a mighty cannabis wave. Legalization is spreading, state by state. There is an ongoing revolution in the art and science of cannabis culture. While most buyers know something about THC and CBD, whole families of psychoactive and medically significant cannabis derivatives are now under study. Interest in the… Read More
gravel garden path Column: Josh Reilly Columns Gardening 

Early Summer Gardens in Full Riot

By Josh Reilly It’s peak season in San Lorenzo Valley gardens. Roses, salvias, Jerusalem sage, irises, poppies, lavenders, yuccas, succulents, penstemons, sedums, Peruvian lilies and ground covers like creeping Thyme are all in full riot. Azaleas and rhododendrons are lighting up shady corners. Pelargoniums and geraniums (often confused) are going off like fireworks. Long blooming standbys like Erigeron will be… Read More
Wisteria Arbor pathway Column: Josh Reilly Columns Gardening 

Spring Gardening: Arbors and Trellises

By Josh Reilly “Arbors and Trellises” sounds like the title of a 70s soft-rock album, brimming with meaning. A reference to lofty, light weight, airy structures, often geometric and angular in form, but built to provide living space for winding, cascading plants, all curves and knots, billows and waves, tendrils and holdfasts. Things that prefer to live up in the breeze.… Read More
H Orientalis Lenten Roses Ben Lomond Column: Josh Reilly Columns Gardening 

A March Garden

by Josh Reilly In February, a gardener’s anticipation borders on intolerable. Especially in those parts of the SLV subject to frost. A lot of what we see growing happily in Santa Cruz, right now, undamaged by frost, is under threat here. Alas, many winter-flowering plants are a lost cause here, with a few very worthwhile exceptions (see below). Flower buds… Read More
Winter gardening pruning apple trees Column: Josh Reilly Columns Gardening 

Ben Lomond Gardener: Nip and Tuck for the New Year

On December 21, the Winter Solstice, we rounded the corner at the wintery end of the year’s ellipse. After this most sacred of all garden holy days, the hours of sunlight begin to increase again, as the Northern Hemisphere starts tilting back towards the sun. Meanwhile, the winter garden is a cool, calm, relaxing place. The bones (roots, branches and... Read More