[MikeHardman]

Nice, John; a bit ethereal; I have seen and photoraphed similar clouds in the Selkirk mountains of the Canadian Rockies (where you'd expect it more). I found the ethereality enhanced by what a photo can't show - how the clouds come-and-go; shape-shifting - entrancing, it was.

[Trevor Australis]

This is a subject tha greatly interests me but one area of 'Mediterranean' that escapes inclusion is the literature on which our understanding of the word is based. For me this is a fascinating and enriching area to explore. Obviousdly there are writers based in the region such as Ibn Battutah and Matvejevic, Magris and Jones and many others but there are also many English and American writers who have soaked up some of the Med culture and experienced life in the region. One I particularly like is Dirk Bogarde, the actor and film-star, who also had a home and garden in Provence for many years and wrote about his experiences of Med life in his 4 part biography. He wrote very well and the books are very readable. I recommend them to anyone who enjoys reading and wants to soak up some Med culture.

[MikeHardman]

The word 'alpine' crops up a few times in this thread...

I'd just like to remark that Yiannis Christofides (plantsman and photographer from mid-level in the Troodos Mts) has written an article in The Alpine Gardener (the periodical of the Alpine Garden Society; Vol.80 No.3, Sept 2012). He shows off some of 'our' alpine, or at least montane, plants with his excellent photography.

[cicerone]

A non-European perspective here, I have lived in Sonoma county (adjacent to Napa), San Francisco, Los Angeles and Florence, Italy.

I can say without question that Florence didn't feel like California weather - more humid in summer and colder in winter. Still, it falls within the general guidelines and I understand it's considered borderline Mediterranean. Rome, on the other hand, felt just like L.A. to me. Same warm dry air. Smoggy too!

The Northern California coast (e.g. San Francisco) feels a world away. Because of the cold California Current, it has some of the coolest summers on the planet with significant fog drip that supports redwood trees. Yet no rain at all from May-Oct. Is the NorCal coast mediterranean? I think so because what else do you call it?

I guess we put these labels on climates but in reality it's a complex gradation and not a fixed border. If I had to put a border on the U.S. med region, I would say Mendocino County. At that point, conifers dominate the landscape and rainfall totals increase dramatically, even far inland from the coast influence.

That being said, the entire West coast of North America is a dry summer region. It's just that this dry period ranges from 3-4 months (Seattle) to 8-9 months (San Diego).

[ritamax]

When I look at the pics of northern Californian gardeners, I get envious. Because of the humidity of the cool ocean and higher rainfall you get much more growth and lushness. Lush, green landscape is not typically mediterranean. Seattle, Portland and Vancouver are too wet and cold. The broadleafed deciduos and dense coniferous forests are the indication, so somewhere there is the border from mediterranean to sub mediterranean and further to oceanic climate, which cannot be fixed on a small map. The sub mediterranean climate between the oceanic/maritime/marine and mediterranean zones is found typically in Galicia, Spain, northern tip of the Adriatic Sea like in coastal Slovenia and the cities of Venice and Trieste in Italy, northern California and Oregon are probably partly in this climate zone as the central and southern Chile.

[David Dickinson]

Just thought I would send in a couple of pictures to show some of the extremes of the mediterranean climate. These pics were taken this spring but a similar event happened in May too here in Rome.

Pic 1 shows a nice healthy looking succulent.
Pic 2 the "event" which lasted about 3-5 min as the storm passed overhead. Note the carpet of hail stones on the terrace below my balcony which, of course, melted in the heat in about 10 min causing flooding in our poorly drained streets.
Pic 3 shows part of the same succulent (which had not been protected by the balcony) above after the storm had moved on.

[Hilary]

If you neighbours plant is Graptopetalum paraguayense , I hope I have correctly identified my plant , it will bounce back in no time.
It is a most useful succulent growing where ever you stick a bit of it.
When the leaves fall which they  inevitably do whenever you  you accidentally knock the plant  they will produce baby plants where ever they fall.

They grow very  easily on the white marble slabs of our balcony floor.

[nikthegreek]

I would like to add that altitude and distance from the sea play a big role in the climate of 'mediterranean' regions. If one uses the narrow definition of the 'olive zone' to define a med climate then much of the area of the countries of the Mediterranean basin is outside of it. In Greece, a small country really, the climate varies locally from almost desert semi-arid conditions to temperate and even alpine depending on latitude, longitude and the 2 factors mentioned above. However in all of these regions precipitation (which in average varies wildly from less than 300mm per annum to more than 1200), happens mainly during the 8 months from September to April and this is the uniting factor.