When I first became involved on gardening forums, it quickly became obvious that often what was being done in gardens only a few hundred miles from my own was different from what could be done successfully here. Altho' I've lived here for 45 years and gardened thru most of that time, I'd had gardens elsewhere. My gardens on the coast of northern California had different requirements as did the gardens, back on the farm in southern Oregon. Moving about 6-800 miles and several degrees of latitude north made a big difference.
The garden forums brought me back home. Back home to maritime conditions, for example, when someone was talking about how to deal with flooding from heavy rains.
Another thing was scheduling. The "plant peas on Valentines Day" is advice that many North American gardeners just have to shrug off. Surprising how enthusiastic (and adamant) some gardeners are once they have found some successful schedules. Whether you insist the wisdom of it or not, I cannot plant peas on frozen ground in mid-February.
Soil types also make for differences one place to another but just considering weather is nearly mind-boggling. Distance from oceans or much smaller bodies of water, prevailing winds and storm patterns, and elevation -- all play important roles in our climates.
We are just now learning about the record heat conditions in much of the US during 2012: "the warmest year on record for the contiguous 48 states overall and in 19 individual states." Now, we have no reason to talk here about man-caused weather influences. That is so politically-charged that half the population get a nose bleed just thinking about it . . !
No, just differences across the United States by Weather Service divisions - it is interesting and may be a bit humbling for those of us offering gardening advice:
Here is where you can see yearly, seasonal, or monthly maps for above & below normal conditions for your nearest WS station, your state or the nation as a whole: National Temperature and Precipitation Maps, NOAA
Steve
