MANY PLANTS LOVE my climate in coastal Virginia but I’ve found that most plants native to the west coast of North America hate it here. They do fine in the cooler seasons when our mild temperatures and regular precipitation are not too wildly divergent from the Mediterranean climate they evolved in; but come summer, and it is all over. The west coast is dry in the summer with no rain for months on end. Virginia, on the other hand, is soggy. If it doesn’t rain for a couple of weeks people start using the word “drought.” The humidity is so high that temperatures don’t drop much at night. I’ve gotten up at 6 am to find the humidity sitting at 100% and the temperature already above 80°F (27°C). Oh, and that’s the regular summer weather patterns. Periodically, tropical storm systems sweep through and dump torrential rain just to keep things extra wet.