Most of you are very familiar with Plant Hardiness Zones, which help you make informed decisions about what to plant based on climate. But do you know your ecoregion?
Your ecoregion is the unique combination of living and nonliving factors that set your landscape apart and determine what will flourish there. Planting your yard according to ecoregion is like snapping a missing piece into the local ecological puzzle.
Visit: http://content.yardmap.org/explore/local-resources
You’ll type in your zip code, and get back your ecoregion, a downloadable planting guide customized for that region (compliments of the great folks at The Pollinator Partnership), and a whole bunch of other local resources specific to your area.
Make sure others know about this valuable information!
(Reprinted from YardMap’s Facebook page. This is an awesome resource packed with good information!)
Eliza Waters 
Thanks for posting this useful info. I love everything from the Cornell Lab.
Yes, I’ve been a member since the mid-80s. Love the work they do. Are you participating in the GBBC this weekend?
Eliza, I wish I could. I have to stay in P.R. for now. My father is very ill and my plans are to eventually live in the U.S., but “when” is the real question right now.
The Great Backyard Bird Count is open to anyone in the world. You spend as little as 15 min. a day counting birds in a location near you and send the data to Cornell to be compiled with other citizen scientists’ data. It helps them tremendously and anyone can do it, anywhere. Here is more info: http://gbbc.birdcount.org/
You’re right, there is no excuse for not participating in this event other than I’m living in an urban area in San Juan and we don’t get endemic species in the city. Thanks so much for the link. I know that if you’re taking pictures, it helps to have the GPS feature already installed in the camera.
Very cool, thanks! I’ve visited & bookmarked the links for my zone. I particularly like the bird finder.
It was totally useless to me. The pdf file refuses to load and Locks-Up my Browser (Firefox)
Sorry to hear you had trouble with your browser. Perhaps try Google Chrome or Explorer? The file (20 pgs) may be too big to carry in Firefox? http://content.yardmap.org/explore/local-resources/
Great information. I am glad you posted this. I think so many want to support the local environment . this type of information makes everything so easy.
Great fun and useful too Eliza, thanks! Cornell offers great resources on many topics. I think I’m going to stick with “High plains desert” for our area, “Southern Rocky Mountain Steppe-Open Woodland-Coniferous Forest-Alpine Meadow Province” is a little too big a mouthful 8^)
😉
Thank you for posting this-I checked it out and it is VERY useful. I will be using this for our growing season 2014!:-)
You’re welcome, I thought it quite helpful – glad you found it the same!