Michael? Having now read through your entire posting including Lee Poulsen's material. BRAVO! and thanks. I think it was more appropriate than my posting. But the underlying principles are the same, and I get involved in politics when I can't grow stuff to take my mind off of the snow on the ground here. USDA 5a going up to 6--but Mediterranean, i.e., Chicago, the middle of the terra known as the USA. Meanings and definitions do shift. I do expect my Eucomis (planted outside with no mulch) to come through this winter and flower, along with my Crinum 'Ellen Bosanquet'. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Michael Mace" <mikemace@att.net> To: <pbs@lists.ibiblio.org> Sent: Thursday, February 04, 2010 1:31 AM Subject: [pbs] What is a Mediterranean climate? > We all know what a Mediterranean climate is -- it's dry warm summers and > cool wet winters. But when you look more closely, the details vary from > region to region. For example, the specific weather that people call > "Mediterranean climate" is quite a bit different from the specifics in > California. > > I'm convinced that many of our struggles to grow bulbs and other plants > from > Mediterranean climates come from an assumption that everything > "Mediterranean" needs the same basic conditions. > > Lee Poulsen created some fantastic charts a few years ago comparing > rainfall > in various "Mediterranean" cities. When he graphed the rainfall in those > cities, he found important differences -- some "Mediterranean" cities > still > get significant amounts of rainfall in the summer, and the length of the > summer "dry" period varies tremendously. > > Lee's work inspired me to see if I could create climate maps of the > Mediterranean regions, all formatted the same way, so we could easily > compare climates from one region to another. After a lot of work, I've > finished a draft of the maps and posted them to the wiki, with a detailed > (maybe too detailed) explanation. > > I haven't linked to the page from the rest of the wiki yet, because I'd > like > to gather comments first. So the only way to get to the page is to use > this > web address: > > http://pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/index.php/… > > > Some tidbits from the maps > > --South Africa and Western/Southern Australia have the mildest climates. > > --California probably has the harshest Mediterranean climate. It has > colder > winters and drier summers than the other regions. > > --Central Chile's pattern is similar to California's, although a bit > milder > in many areas. > > --Coastal Oregon and Washington have weather that resembles a > Mediterranean > pattern in many ways. Officially, climatologists do not classify them as > Mediterranean, but for plant-growing purposes I think of them as > semi-Mediterranean. The same thing applies to south-central Chile. > > --Europe is a mix of all the other regions. Spain, southern France, > Italy, > and Morocco/Algeria all have comparatively moist summers. The Greek > islands > and the Middle East have very dry summers. > > > What it all means > > Here's what I think the maps are telling me about growing Mediterranean > bulbs and plants in California: > > --Why do so many of my South African Amaryllid bulbs need supplemental > water > in the summer? Because they are used to getting some summer rainfall. > > --Why do many European bulbs naturalize well in gardens that get > year-round > water, when that kills bulbs from places like California? Because many > areas in Mediterranean Europe get more summer rain than any other > Mediterranean region. > > --Why do I have so much trouble growing Australian plants? Because they > are > used to warmer winters and milder summers than I have in my part of > California. Even if I protect them from frost, planting them out in the > garden with no supplemental water in summer is likely to put them under > enormous stress. No wonder they grow better along the mild, damp coast of > California. > > > Questions for you: > > What do you think of the maps? > Are there errors I need to fix? Things to add? > Is this useful? > Do you think this is appropriate to post on the PBS wiki? > > > Thanks in advance for your feedback. > > > _______________________________________________ > pbs mailing list > pbs@lists.ibiblio.org > http://pacificbulbsociety.org/list.php > http://pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/