Thanks for the comments and questions, everybody. I'll respond to them all here... Jan wrote: >> Next time please embedd the fonts into the PDF, my computer cannot show the text amnd the map. Thanks, and I'm sorry for the trouble. I'll repost the maps with the fonts embedded if I can't find another workaround. The problem is that the embedded fonts add about 150k to the size of the file, which will push some of the maps beyond the size limit set in the wiki. Ugh, computers. Bracey wrote: >> An excellent book, Plant Life in the World's Mediterranean Climates by Peter R. Dallman, has extensive discussion of the differences between the five major medit climates. I agree, it's a splendid book, and has a much more thorough discussion of the subject than I could do in a single map. >> You might also look into the Mediterranean Garden Society. Thanks! I am on the Medit-Plants list and was thinking about expanding the discussion to there. Wanted to try it out first among the "family" here ;-) There is also a somewhat pointed behind-the-scenes discussion on Wikipedia about how to define a Mediterranean climate. My summary: It's very complicated, and the things that climatologists do to define a climate do not necessarily relate to the information that gardeners need. That's not saying the climatologists are doing anything wrong, just that climatology and gardening are not the same things. Tim wrote: >> Parts of Somalia also fall within the description of a mediterranean climate. Cool! I will see if I can find the details, and add that to the map. I'm also working on a map of Hawaii, which (as Lee has pointed out) has some Mediterranean-like pockets on a couple of islands. Are there any other places that people would like to nominate? Diane wrote: >> It was disappointing not to see any of my colour in South Africa, but - could Esperance actually be in a dark brown area? I was thinking of you when I worked on the Pacific coast map. You have to zoom in very closely, but right around Victoria there's a little purple zone. It's just one weather station, but in terms of rainfall and average winter cold it is a rough match for a town in South Africa just north of Ceres, called Prince Alfred's Hamlet. You can see its weather here: http://saexplorer.co.za/south-africa/climate/… e.asp Data from the Victoria weather station, called "Gonzalez Heights," is given here: http://www.smus.bc.ca/weather/climate.htm Prince Alfred's Hamlet is a little bit drier and warmer in winter than the Gonzalez Heights station in Victoria. But they are pretty close. >> could Esperance actually be in a dark brown area Esperance, Australia is dark red, meaning it gets similar rainfall to the dark brown zone but not as cold in winter. Here's the weather data on Esperance: http://bom.gov.au/climate/averages/… As you'll see, their rainfall total is similar to yours (about 60 cm/year), but they're a tiny bit wetter in summer and drier in winter than you are. But pretty close! The big difference is minimum winter temperatures. Their lowest monthly average minimum is 8.3C; yours is 2.2C. That's a pretty big difference. The other difference, which I couldn't really show on a map, is that all along the Pacific coast we occasionally get an "arctic express" weather system in winter, where a storm flows down from Alaska and freezes the heck out of everything. Because there's ocean south of Australia and South Africa, they don't get those sorts of events as often (if at all). So those of us on the Pacific coast get tempted into growing tender plants for a year or ten, and then get brutally disappointed when they all freeze in a freak storm. The bottom line: Plants from Esperance may be pretty comfortable with your rainfall pattern (if you get the drainage right), but you'll need to protect them from frost in winter. Which I'm sure you already knew ;-)