Ok so I posted a lot of pictures because I want to explain what plants are doing well in this location.I took out all the grass and have been trying to install a complete water wise landscape. The soil is new and is supposed to be well draining cactus and succulent soil. I converted the yard to drip although thus far have just watered with a hose because I am still struggling to find plants that are going to live and thrive. The last 5 pics are of what I planted months ago which is doing ok. I have barrel cactus which doesnt seem to be growing but its not dying either. I have several red yucca which were in bloom last year and havent grown much either but I hope they will bloom again now that its spring. I also have french lavender which has grown and looks great.I have sticks on fire which has grown and looks great. And the elephants food I replaced after over-watering it and now its doing well. The tall plant is called a candella wax plant but has other names and varieties and I plan to get another since its grown and attracts hummingbirds. So I still need to plant the blue glow agave which I think will do well because this is a very hot sunny location and there are agave growing all over this area. I live in southern California but not on the coast. I am about an hour inland and so thats where it gets tricky because I love these little echeveria,crassula,flapjacks and varieties of succulents which can be more sensitive to the sun and water. I planted some in a pot and they actually did well when it rained for months and when they were in the shade on the side of the house. But I need to get my front yard landscaped and dont want to just dump a ton of rocks and dg on it. I want to have lots of plants,cactus and succulents,and many varieties. So they look ok right now because I just planted them 3 days ago but already I can see them burning. I see brown spots,shrived leaves,but others look fine. I am afraid to water them at all. I checked the soil with a moisture tester and it showed a 5 which is a midpoint on the scale of 1-10 so I assume they are wet at the roots. Should I water when the tester shows 1? Should I look for other signs? Since my yard has no trees and is completely exposed to the East and gets morning sun til about 3-4 pm,its really almost 10 hrs of sun before it goes behind the house. I have nothing to shade these plants and I need smaller low laying plants on the front half of my yard towards the street and than I planned to put the barrel cactus and agave and sticks on fire,red yucca,and other larger aloe. Last year I tried the echeveria and it died as did some of the grasses,some sedum ground cover,and just about everything else I could find that was low or short. The summers here can get into the 100's for days and even weeks. This week was in the high 80's and so already I am seeing the succulents looking great at the store when under the shade cover in the nursery but when I take it home and plant it,I just fear its all going to die very quickly. Any ideas and suggestions are much appreciated.

I'm in zone 10a and planted succulents in full sun last summer. The only one which was unhappy was an echeveria which had to be moved into a pot. It was just too much sun. It was curling up into a ball and looked bad. Your garden should be fine. Keep an eye on the echies. This heat wave has popped up so quickly.

Yep I agree with Socks everything I see will adapt fine:). I too keep all my echies away from full day sun. They start to look sad:(, but everything else will color up nicely.

designideas--are you going to do a top dressing? My neighbors did bark, and everything is growing fine. Many people do rocks as well. I like the little crawling sedum and think it helps hold moisture in the soil. IMHO any covering will help keep the soil cooler. If you have any cardboard shipping boxes around, you can flatten them out, make them into a tent for plants you feel are getting too hot. Or anything, a folding chair, etc. Next week will be cooler, I think, and give new plants a breather.

When you get a plant at the shaded nursery, you might transition it into full sun gradually while it is still in the pot. If it's a black pot, shade the side of it while it's in the sun to keep the roots from overheating. Or plant when the temps cool down.

Your new yard looks great! Lawns are the devil:-), but really. You got great advise here. Sometimes in spring we get sudden intense sun here too, and can get sunburn even though plants lived out all winter. An easy fix I use is to throw tree trimmings, or any non-seed bearing weeds, or whatever I can pull up that will screen the sun while they adjust, lattice plant trays work too. After a few days the screen material is dried up, and thinner, then I throw it in the green can and the succulents are all fine now.

Enjoy your new space, it'll be fun watching it fill up!

Thanks for all the great ideas and advice. Since I have an HOA and its in my front yard it will be harder to shade with things that arent meant for a front yard since they are so picky. I do plan to use DG and other bigger rocks and more boulders to cover the soil. I still dont know exactly when to water. I would also still appreciate ideas on plants that are low to the ground and not as sensitive as these which I can use with the top dressing to complete the landscape. Thank you all. I think I am in zone 9b. I live in Temecula Ca.

I would water every 7-10 days. You shouldn't have to water more than once a week. Looks like you have this, but ice plants are always pretty. Portulaca grandiflora is nice:). Check out Sedums too:). You could have some beautiful Agaves too. I've been seeing at Home Depot lately this Cotyledon called Burgundy. It's beautiful. I would get it, but I have nowhere to put at this time. This plant definitely needs to go in the ground. It would outgrow a pot in no time.

https://store.devilmountainnursery.com/inet/storefront/store.php?mode=showproductdetail&product=17925

I don't see anything that would be unhappy in full, all day sun.. .and in your climate there are literally thousands of more excellent choices (you have about 500 species of Aloe alone that would do great there).