On Sat, Sep 15, 2012 at 11:27 AM, Michael Mace <michaelcmace@gmail.com>wrote: > > The lesson out of this is not to get too hung up on the official definition > of mediterranean. It was written for climatology, not gardeners, and > definitely not for bulb growers. And if someone tells you a bulb is > "mediterranean," don't assume you know how to grow it. Ask for details on > how much winter cold and summer rain it expects. > I absolute agree Mike. The Mediterranean Garden Society spends a great deal of time debating this very point. There definition tends to boil down to seasonal rainfall patterns and often include what climatologists would consider Steppe Climates. According to some climate maps the San Joaquin Valley of California is considered to be a steppe climate, but for MGS most of California is considered Mediterranean. I even heard a University of Washington climatologist refer to western Washington as a Mediterranean climate on the radio a week ago. Randy