links

Some useful and even nerdy links to maps and items of geography, offering much insight on the climates and ecological communities we garden in.

I don’t exist or wing it on popular perceptions, but live and embrace reality.

To design a landscape with living plants that people and wildlife want to be in, it helps to always be open and learn where one is, from the big to the small picture. I would hope that most people wouldn’t settle for a passing garden, any more than to follow passing fads. Fashion and staying power are much better.

Overall Gegraphy –

BONAP maps (plants, climate, soils, relationships)
http://www.bonap.org/

Bailey’s Ecoregions
http://www.fs.fed.us/land/ecosysmgmt/index.html

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Climate –

Climate types or zones (generalized)
http://www.bonap.org/Climate%20Maps/climate48shadeA.png

Western US
http://www.wrcc.dri.edu/climatedata/climsum/

Much of the US
http://www.wrcc.dri.edu/summary/sodusa.html

The world
http://www.weatherbase.com/

Sunshine data (no, LA or Austin are not the sunniest places:-)
http://www.currentresults.com/Weather/US/average-annual-state-sunshine.php

Climate zones…favors west coast, glosses over interior west and east (Sunset)
http://www.sunset.com/garden/climate-zones/climate-zones-intro-us-map

Cold Hardiness Zones…30 years of winter lows averaged (USDA)
http://planthardiness.ars.usda.gov/PHZMWeb/Default.aspx

Heat Zones…averages of hours above 86F (American Horticultural Society)
http://www.ahs.org/gardening-resources/gardening-maps/heat-zone-map

Growing seasons
http://davesgarden.com/guides/freeze-frost-dates/

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Plants –

Floristic changes / tension zones (E-W, N-S)
http://www.bonap.org/TensionZoneMaps/Tension8.png

Plant density and diversity
http://www.bonap.org/diversity/diversity/diversity.html

North American Plant Atlas
http://bonap.net/NAPA/Genus/Traditional/County

Cactus family members – here

Oak species – here

Muhly grass species – here

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Soils –

Soil types
http://www.bonap.org/2008_Soil/SoilTypesRelatedMaps.html

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