This interactive map is a neat online gadget that allows you to locate garden centres and nurseries in your area. I can see the value in something like this when you’re visiting a new area or new in town. I mean, it took me years to dig up a fairly large garden centre within the downtown core of my own city, and while on speaking trips I am often stuck spending hours searching online and through phonebooks. The drawback to this service — other than the fact that it is U.S. only and some of us, cough, are Canadian — is that only addresses and phone numbers are listed. No additional information is available unless the store pays to have that added and we all know from experience that all garden centres are NOT created equal.

Maps that I can see coming in handy while on the road include: biodiesel fuel stations, vegetarian food restaurants, craft shops and thrift shops.