Method
How an edition is made
Four rules decide what goes into a guide. They are built into how the guide is made, so a claim without its evidence can’t get in.
1. Dates are slots
Every date, weather station, distance and percentile in an edition is a slot, filled from a sourced record: a state wildlife agency, a dated sighting, a weather record. The source is printed beside it, with how many years the record covers. Where no record exists, the guide says “no record found” instead of guessing. Nobody types a date into the text. Where a date is a judgement call, such as the end of egg season, the guide says so and explains why.
2. Two sources for every plant
A plant goes on an edition’s list only when two institutions, such as a state agency, a university extension service or a native plant society, both support it for that area. We name them and cite what they say. Nurseries are used only to say where a plant can be bought.
3. Every plate is checked against its spec
Each plate is made from a written specification of what each part should look like, and checked against it: the number of legs, the bands, the shape of a leaf.
4. Honest urgency only
The only deadline we mention is the plant’s: when milkweed needs to go in the ground to be ready for the monarchs. There are no countdown timers, and nothing is “almost gone”.
How the finder decides
The finder turns your ZIP code into a county using Census files, then looks the county up in our table of where monarchs breed, pass through, live all year or are rarely seen. Each county’s row names its sources and how sure we are. Where a source doesn’t draw a line inside a state, the county keeps the state’s general answer and is marked for review. Every answer shows a “Why we say this” line with its source.
When we get something wrong
We fix it and log it, with the date, on the corrections page. Tell us at hello@hometownfieldguides.com.