Most net gardeners, at least those who belong to any of the gardening email lists, are aware of hardiness zones. These are fairly universal in the US, because of our vast differences in climate. Gardeners in other parts of the world aren't generally familiar with the USDA hardiness zone system until they've been online for a while. But, hardiness zones are only a rough indication of whether a plant will do well in our gardens, and besides, they vary widely depending on the source you're reading at the time. Who are we to believe? If we really want to have a good idea about a plant's suitability for our conditions, we have to know it's provenance, or where in the world it calls home.
The vast majority of plants from temperate climates are pretty tolerant of a wide range of climates and soil conditions. However, some are very definitely not...and those are usually the plants we lust for the most and want to grow in our gardens. We gardeners are a notoriously perverse lot; always pining for what we don't have.
I don't know when general gardeners lost sight of provenance. It used to be an important bit of knowledge about a plant - passed around with it's name. Nevertheless, it seems we did. When I started gardening, provenance was only mentioned in passing. Even books noting it didn't stress the importance in regards to how well a plant would grow in our gardens.
Recently, there has been more mention of this factor in garden writing and in posts about plants on email lists. This may be because of the renaissance in plant exploration by the current young horticulturists/nurserypersons/botanists, such as Dan Hinkley of Heronswood, Tony Avent of Plant Delights, Diana Reeck of Collector's Nursery and Bleddyn & Sue Wynn-Jones of Crûg Farm, to name a few, who travel the world to bring back plants and seeds and introduce new plants for our gardens.
Climates Around the World
Over the years, I've found out the hard way which plants simply won't make the transition from their native climates to mine. If I'd been aware of the importance of provenance, I could have saved a few plant lives and a good deal of frustration (not to mention some money).
The world is made up of varying types of climates and soils. Soil is important in that it needs to contain the types of minerals and nutrients a plant needs as well as provide the drainage (or lack thereof) that is necessary for a specific plant to survive.
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