Well, in other gardening sites, "northern" generally encompasses the cold interior, isolated from the warming coastal influences - extreme cold in "Northern" versus wet and generally mild (by comparison) conditions in PNW. That seems to be how the Northern forum here is populated also... gardeners from the cold interior - zones that the rest of the world doesn't believe plant life can even survive in, LOL!
Gardening in the PNW doesn't have a lot in common with gardening in Saskatchewan...
Just my two bits as a newbie here, but it makes a great deal of sense to have a separate PNW forum.
