Re: Zones
I find the USDA zones are useful for winter hardiness. They probably aren't
too useful for this e-mail list.
I find the Sunset zones confusing and difficult to remember, but useful for
the Sunset books where they say which zones a plant grows well in.
In the book "Plant Life in the World's Mediterranean Climates", it gives
three subdivisions of the Mediterranean climate as follows (page 8)
according to differences in summer weather:
"In California, for example, three subdivisions are:
Csa. Climate with hot summers, the highest monthly temperature averaging
over 72 F (22 C), includes Sacramento, Stockton, and Los Angeles.
Csb. Climate with moderate to warm summers, the highest monthly temperature
averaging below 72 F (22 F), includes Santa Rosa, Santa Barbara, and Long
Beach.
Csbn. Coastal areas that have cool summers with frequent fogs, are
exemplified by San Francisco, Santa Cruz, and Monterey..."
As the above shows, Mediterranean climates differ significantly in how hot
the summers are (ranging from cool to very hot), which seems to play an
important role in growing plants.
--Mark
Mark Doster
central San Joaquin Valley, California
