Why Regions?

The Monarch Fellowship has reviewed temperature and participation maps and divided our program in to regions to ensure that we are providing seeds that have the best chance of success in your community. To make things easier, we used easily recognizable county boundaries to help define the limits of each region. Plants with limited range in a region may not be available to Hubs within that region on the seed order form. We appreciate you patience as we implement these changes. If you disagree with the availability of seeds, please reach out to us so that we may reconsider our seed availability for your region.

From the CalScape Planting Guide: California is a state of extremely diverse climates. Annual precipitation ranges from under 3" per year in desert areas to over 150" per year in the temperate rain forests in northern California. Precipitation levels can change dramatically even from one square mile to the next, especially at different elevations. Rainfall patterns, length of drought period, high and low temperatures, and wettest and driest humidity levels can also vary greatly across the state even within small areas. Different California native plant species evolved to handle these different conditions.

Because of this, it's important to pick the right plants for the area where your garden is located. Native plants are easier to grow, healthier and require little or no artificial irrigation when they are planted in an area in which they evolved and naturally belong. "California natives" that aren't really native to your location will often struggle or die no matter how much you water them. This is especially true because direct summer irrigation often kills California natives.