“Yellow is the first sign of spring,” I think to myself as I’m driving to the Napa Valley on a midwinter morning. It’s the beginning of February, and the famously golden hills of California are still mostly green. The old vine grapes in the valley are dormant, woody brown, knotted skeletons, and the sun is shining brightly. In the fields ahead are pops of yellow.
At a certain time of year in wine country — and across many areas of California — the mustard plants bloom, transforming whole hillsides into sunny seas of yellow. Introduced by Spanish colonialists, legend has it that mustard seeds were scattered along the El Camino Real mission trail to mark the route, creating a “ribbon of gold.” Found in adobe bricks dating from the mission era, these non-native plants were most likely transported by cattle across the wide grazing lands during the time of Spanish and Mexican ranchos. Pervasive and invasive, black mustard plants grow wild almost everywhere in California and are celebrated in Napa in February and March as a way to draw tourists during the slow season.
Armed with a map put out by the local tourism board and inspired by the warmth of the sun, I’m in the heart of the valley dropping in at wineries, but I’m not tasting wine. Instead, I’m smoking weed and taking in the splendor of another flower you’ll find across California and most of the world: the black mustard flower.
Magic Without Money
It’s easy to get priced out of Napa if you’re not ultra-wealthy; most wine tastings are nearly $100, and many wineries are appointment only. I grew up in Fairfield, on the other side of the Vaca Mountains from the valley, so Napa holds nostalgic childhood memories for me. When I was growing up, the mineral pool in Calistoga had a day rate and a snack bar. Now, the only way to experience that pool is by booking a high-end massage or pricey overnight accommodations.
I want to spend time in the Napa Valley, but I can’t afford to spend my day sipping expensive wine. The mustard bloom offers me an in — a way to linger in the iconic valley, best known for its wine production, without spending money at every place I stop. Bringing Cannabis along enhances the experience of enjoying time in the natural settings of the valley on an unseasonably warm winter’s day.
I spent my afternoon crawling along Napa’s two main thoroughfares, Highway 29 on the west side and the Silverado Trail on the east side. After noticing the lemons, daffodils and sour grass with delicate yellow flowers that I used to eat as a kid, I find myself deeply connected to the color yellow as the first signal that winter is ending and brighter days are ahead. The valley presents naked oak trees covered in green moss, leafless rows of grape vines and fields of yellow mustard flowers. Deepening my sensory perception with Cannabis flowers helps me connect with the natural beauty of the area.
Flowers for Flowers
The morning hit of Zangria when I arrive in Yountville tastes fruity and bright. I smoke on the walkable flat streets, which are empty of people, but full of cars parked in front of California bungalows and vacation rentals.
Bouchon Bakery — run by celebrity chef Thomas Keller, who also heads the world-renowned, three-Michelin-star restaurant The French Laundry just down the road — is a popular hotspot in Yountville in the morning. When I arrive at the bakery, it’s unusually empty. I’m a savory breakfast person, but can’t stomach the idea of a $15 ham and cheese croissant, so I opt for a cream cheese danish and an Americano. When I push my crumbs off the table, and small brown birds begin to gather, I feel like Cinderella.
In The French Laundry Culinary Garden, I spot winter vegetables like cabbage and lettuce as a woodpecker with a red cap flies just above my head. A flowering pear drops snow-white blooms to the ground that mimic snowfall, and I feel incredibly grateful to be in California while the rest of the country is still in a time of deep winter cold.
Following the map of mustard blossoms, I stop at a winery along the Silverado Trail and walk toward a field of mustard. It’s nearly 70 degrees, and the sunshine on my skin feels amazing.
I visit a few more spots on the map before arriving in St. Helena, further north along the valley. Once there, I follow a directional sign leading toward the Robert Louis Stevenson Museum, which is flanked in front by a field of grape vines and mustard blossoms.
Best known for the novels “Treasure Island” and “The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde,” Stevenson arrived in the Napa Valley seeking sunny, dry air to improve his health. On her blog, Very Important Potheads, Ellen Komp writes that Stevenson and his cousin Bob Stevenson were inseparable in their youth, noting that Stevenson’s biographer James Pope Hennessy wrote that the two Stevensons “pursued girls together and smoked hashish (when they could get it).”
Stevenson’s poem “Spring Song” reminds me of the seasonal renewal I feel on my stoney trip to the Napa Valley, knowing that spring is on its way.
The air was full of sun and birds,
The fresh air sparkled clearly.
Remembrance wakened in my heart
And I knew I loved her dearly.
The fallows and the leafless trees
And all my spirit tingled.
My earliest thought of love, and Spring’s
First puff of perfume mingled.
In my still heart the thoughts awoke,
Came lone by lone together –
Say, birds and Sun and Spring, is Love
A mere affair of weather?
In another poem, Stevenson wrote a line that reminds me of my ambition for my day’s adventure in the Napa Valley: “Bring flowers while flowers are sweet to see.”
Sing a Song of Seasons
I brought Cannabis to a place that’s best known for wine to look at another type of flower, and in doing so, felt hope for the things that are yet to come. As the days continue to warm up, the dormant Cannabis seeds that we plant in the soil will begin to grow. And come next winter, a celebration of these flowers will occur as we smoke the first tastes of the 2026 Cannabis harvest.
Napa Valley is beautiful in all seasons, and enjoying it with an herbal companion as opposed to a glass of wine was an incredible way to stay in tune with the seasons. Flowers of all kinds bring joy to our lives, but I think the Cannabis flower is the most special because of the way it can help us to appreciate the world around us.
As we look ahead toward spring and the Cannabis planting season, I hope we all can find the time to appreciate flowers and feel the heat of the sun. The yellow color of mustard blossoms that filled my day in Napa evokes happiness, energy, optimism and warmth. I take solace in knowing there are brighter and stonier days ahead as Cannabis flowers begin to bud and bloom, both in our hearts and minds.
