I hope I worked the title correctly. I was just at my grocery store last night, marvelling at all the fruits that were available even in mid-December. I realize California, and (I think) specifically central California (near Goleta & Santa Barbara), has a climate conducive to growing all types of produce, but I know there are plenty others as well. My question is where on earth can grow pretty much anything?
(Feel free to correct any glaring problems with my question itself)
IANA botanist, but any biologist can tell you that the number of species growing in any environment is highest at or near the equator. Speciation rates are highest there.
A large variety of imported species have been successfully grown in California, but that’s as much due to human ingenuity in providing appropriate conditions as anything. Large tropical and semi-tropical islands (much larger than Hawaiian) tend to have some of the greatest varieties (e.g., various islands of Indonesia, Madagascar, Phillipines). Even after all the Agent Orange, Vietnam has since managed to show us previously unknown species, including a largish mammal. Central America and the Caribbean islands have suffered enormous environmental damage over the last five centuries (and especially in the last 100 years), but they still have lots of stuff that’s uncatalogued.