Our California bioregion is distinctly different
The dictionary says it is “a region defined by characteristics of the natural environment rather than man-made divisions.” Plants and animals establish characteristic survival patterns that work best in a certain region’s conditions. These sets of familiar conditions define “home” to people. Bioregions include the cultures of humans as well.
what makes california so different? Combined with recurring Pacific Ocean weather patterns which bring about our wet and dry seasons, California is a granola bowl of soil types formed over millions of years as the result of the North American and Pacific tectonic plates scraping elbows: 400 million-year-old sea beds heaving and folding above the massive friction of collision and volcanic heat of miles-deep infernos; uplifting, solidifying, crumbling and eroding into the dramatic land forms and diverse soil types we know today. Most importantly, our Mediterranean climate dictates specific feast-or-famine water rules and growing conditions which our native plants have adapted to. It may be naturally too tough for something like grandma’s hydrangea cuttings, for example. Wet-dry seasons and mild temperatures which humans find very agreeable most of the time are characteristic. Only five places in the world have true mediterranean climates: the basin surrounding the Mediterranean Sea, California, central Chile, western South Africa, and parts of western and southern Australia. The San Francisco Bay area lies at 37 degrees latitude and 122 degrees longitude, give or take a few minutes. 
a special region with a special nameCalifornia covers more than 100 million acres of land. Seventy percent of that falls within a geologically defined area called the California Floristic Province, a region which is home to a very high number of plant and animal species found nowhere else in the world. Continental plate activity and erosion over the last 25-40 million years formed this area bordered in the east by the Sierra Nevada mountains and reaching into a tiny area of Nevada near Lake Tahoe, extending about 200 miles up into a portion of Oregon and about 200 miles down into Baja California. It claims the entire California coast (including the Channel Islands) as its western edge. With ocean on one side and high mountains flanked by deserts on the other, many life forms were rather “trapped” in this bowl, which led to many different species evolving and adapting to the array of habitats here. The California Floristic Province is one of the world's 25 biodiversity hotspots, which combined support almost 50% of the world's plants and animals. All regions on the hotspot list have lost at least 70% of their original habitats to human development, endangering and in some cases wiping out many species. 
World Biodiversity Hotspots website resources Although detailed explanations of geology, botany, ecology and cultural history are beyond the scope of this website, here are some appealing resources for learning more about California. 
National Audubon Society Field Guide to Californiaa pocket-sized, comprehensive guide packed with information on topography and geology, the night sky, flora and fauna, habitats, conservation and ecology, weather, and state parks. Beautifully illustrated with diagrams, maps and photographs. 
Atlas of the Biodiversity of California by the State of California Resources Agency A splendid atlas with map after interesting map and handsome illustrations. Climate, vegetation, plant rarity hotspots, kelp forests, trout populations, invasive plant and animal ranges, much more. 
California’s Wild Gardens: A Guide to Favorite Botanical Sites, edited by Phyllis M. FaberThe most engaging and understandable explanation of California's geology, soils and climate; elegant photographs from all the geographic regions. 
Mining California: An Ecological Historyby Andrew C. Isenberg A fascinating and ultimately sobering history of gold-rush mentality, the impact of millions of grazing sheep and cows, water politics. An eye-opening slice of California's history for newcomers. 
Weather of the San Francisco Bay Regionby Harold Gilliam A very clear and understandable explanation of our weather patterns.
Visit the California Native Plant Society's online bookstore
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