# Open data: the reference tables on this site as files, with a license to reuse them

> The thirteen reference tables on this site as CSV and JSON files under one open license: plant facts, growth, lifespans, native range, bloom and more.

Published 2026-10-22. Tags: What to plant. By Blue Whale Trees, a native tree nursery in the United States. Web version: https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/open-data/

Every reference table on this site is also a pair of files, CSV and JSON, that a spreadsheet, a program or an AI assistant can read whole. The list below gives each table with what one row is and where its files are. Each table's own page prints it, explains its columns and method, and gives a citation to copy.

## How to read the table

The files carry the same figures as the pages they belong to, written from the same records, and each file states its columns, its method, the day it was updated and a citation. Blue Whale Trees publishes them under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 licence: use them freely, credit the nursery and link the table's page.

A file is rewritten when its page changes, and both carry the same date. A program can read the list of tables at [/data/index.json](https://bluewhaletrees.com/data/index.json), and the whole site in plain text through [/llms.txt](https://bluewhaletrees.com/llms.txt).

## The tables

| Table | Rows | One row is | Files |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| [Tree growth rates by species, A to Z](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/growth-rates/index.html.md) | 414 | one tree or shrub the nursery grows | [CSV](https://bluewhaletrees.com/data/growth-rates.csv), [JSON](https://bluewhaletrees.com/data/growth-rates.json) |
| [Seed sowing chart: treatment, depth and timing for every species](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/sowing/index.html.md) | 414 | one tree or shrub the nursery grows | [CSV](https://bluewhaletrees.com/data/sowing.csv), [JSON](https://bluewhaletrees.com/data/sowing.json) |
| [Pollination table: what each tree needs for a crop](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/pollination/index.html.md) | 414 | one tree or shrub the nursery grows | [CSV](https://bluewhaletrees.com/data/pollination.csv), [JSON](https://bluewhaletrees.com/data/pollination.json) |
| [Bloom and fruit calendar: the months every species flowers and fruits](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/calendar/index.html.md) | 414 | one tree or shrub the nursery grows | [CSV](https://bluewhaletrees.com/data/calendar.csv), [JSON](https://bluewhaletrees.com/data/calendar.json) |
| [Plant facts: size, zones, sun, soil, bloom, fruit and first crop for every species](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/plant-facts/index.html.md) | 414 | one tree or shrub the nursery grows | [CSV](https://bluewhaletrees.com/data/plant-facts.csv), [JSON](https://bluewhaletrees.com/data/plant-facts.json) |
| [Planting distances: how far from a house, wires, a septic field, pavement and a boundary, by species](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/planting-distances/index.html.md) | 414 | one tree or shrub the nursery grows | [CSV](https://bluewhaletrees.com/data/planting-distances.csv), [JSON](https://bluewhaletrees.com/data/planting-distances.json) |
| [Native range by state: where every species we grow is native or introduced](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/native-range/index.html.md) | 414 | one tree or shrub the nursery grows | [CSV](https://bluewhaletrees.com/data/native-range.csv), [JSON](https://bluewhaletrees.com/data/native-range.json) |
| [Lifespans: the typical and oldest known age of each tree and shrub with a dated figure](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/how-long-native-trees-live/index.html.md) | 96 | one tree or shrub whose page states a lifespan | [CSV](https://bluewhaletrees.com/data/lifespans.csv), [JSON](https://bluewhaletrees.com/data/lifespans.json) |
| [Growth factors: the years per inch of trunk the tree age estimator uses, by species](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/tree-age-factors/index.html.md) | 125 | one growth factor from one source for one species | [CSV](https://bluewhaletrees.com/data/tree-age-factors.csv), [JSON](https://bluewhaletrees.com/data/tree-age-factors.json) |
| [Planting windows and moving: when to plant each species and how well it moves](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/planting-windows/index.html.md) | 414 | one tree or shrub the nursery grows | [CSV](https://bluewhaletrees.com/data/planting-windows.csv), [JSON](https://bluewhaletrees.com/data/planting-windows.json) |
| [Other names: what each tree and shrub we grow is also called](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/other-names/index.html.md) | 414 | one tree or shrub the nursery grows | [CSV](https://bluewhaletrees.com/data/other-names.csv), [JSON](https://bluewhaletrees.com/data/other-names.json) |
| [Habitats: the ground each species grows on, behind the companion tool](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/plant-habitats/index.html.md) | 414 | one tree or shrub the nursery grows | [CSV](https://bluewhaletrees.com/data/plant-habitats.csv), [JSON](https://bluewhaletrees.com/data/plant-habitats.json) |
| [State plant rules: the quarantines and bans that name a tree or shrub we grow](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/state-rules/index.html.md) | 490 | one plant a state's rule names, so a plant three states' rules name has three rows | [CSV](https://bluewhaletrees.com/data/state-rules.csv), [JSON](https://bluewhaletrees.com/data/state-rules.json) |

## Common questions

### What license do the files carry?

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0: anyone may copy, share and build on the tables, with a credit to the nursery and a link to the table's page.

### How often are the files updated?

Whenever the page they belong to changes; the files and the page carry the same date. The plant pages' facts change as sources are read and corrected, and a table follows at the next release.

### How do I cite a table?

Each table's page ends with a citation to copy, as a link and as a plain reference, naming the table, the site and the date.

### Do the files match the pages?

Yes: the files and the pages are written from the same records by the same scripts, and a check before every release refuses a file that differs from its data.

## Sources

- [Creative Commons Attribution 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/): Creative Commons: the licence the table's CSV and JSON files carry, which asks for a credit and a link.

## Related

- Next step: [See the catalog](https://bluewhaletrees.com/shop/index.html.md)
- [How fast every tree and shrub we grow gets tall: growth rate, A to Z](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/growth-rates/index.html.md)
- [Every tree and shrub we grow at a glance: size, zones, sun, soil, bloom, fruit and first crop](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/plant-facts/index.html.md)
- [How long native trees and shrubs live: typical and oldest known age, A to Z](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/how-long-native-trees-live/index.html.md)