Nah, I disagree with most of the above. I do my fall planting in earnest in late August and with the unusually cool & rainy summer we've had this year, I've been transplanting and planting all summer and pretty much letting nature do the work of watering in this year, its a good year for planting. Any kind of succulent or cactus can be planted and just walked away from, meaning totally ignored which is usually the best thing since most deaths come from too much molly-coddling and over watering. Treat them like forgotten children and they will reward you. So I totally disagree there's no plant that can be planted in August. I just moved a well established cactus here smack in the middle of the day in the hot sun and it won't mind a bit & I'm going to dig up some hesperaloe's tomorrow and move them once the roots callous. Wow, you've just described a perfect spot for certain plants. First to come to mind is the one I just mentioned, hesperaloe or 'pink yucca', however, its not a yucca, its in the lily family. I looked it up, it will take zone 5 if dry. These look great in a grouping. Stick them in the ground and forget them, they will do fine. I've seen many plantings where they mix them with drifts of grasses and the texture is to die for. Its used along roads here due to its low maintenance, looks and low water needs. Looks stunning. True yucca is another easy plant but choose carefully, there are nice well behaved pretty ones and others that are bullies and become something you regret. Yucca rostrata s a good one if it will grow in zone 5 and your winter is on the dry side or the drainage is very good. Little Bluestem grass. In a spot like that you should be able to grow the highly enviable stiff light blue vertical specimens because they love torture like that and they tend to flop in good soil with too much moisture or shade. Water in the plants for the first week, then they will do fine on their own. I've been moving them around all summer, I just finished planting some more and they are unflapped. Santa Rosa will be restocked coming up with all the really nice types when their fall sales begin. They are very popular so they ran out early this year of every type. Many other ornamental grasses would also work (but bluestem is so gorgeous I have to push it). Native grasses would do the best, imported ones such as the over used Miscanthus grasses are often water suckers that would need supplemental watering when dry in that kind of sun and there's all that horrible spring trimming of sharp leaves with those plus that dying in the center down the road when they must be dug up and divided which is not fun to do. Natives are much easier. Russian Sage is a plant that would definitely do well there. Water it in when planting and keep it moist for a couple weeks and it should do fine for you with little or no follow up. Too much water makes them flop. Once September gets here, you should be fine. Crepe Myrtle would be easy in the heat but it might not do zone 5, you could check, they will take the dry and heat with ease and bloom over a long period. Rose of Sharon is another workhorse that seems to take any amount of sun and drought and bloom without problems. Any native plant that is a sun lover in your area will also prove to be a good choice. You might want to google to see whats native in your parts, these plants will be OK on their own since they are adjusted to your conditions and soil type without human intervention. Woops, I nearly forgot. Artemisia is a great choice for that kind of spot. They would do fine. I just planted three Prowis Castle to add to a silver garden I'm working on and they adjusted right in, no problem, no sulks. Valerie finnis is a great one. I just moved some to fill in a spot. This post was edited by TexasRanger10 on Thu, Aug 7, 14 at 23:37

I agree with froggy on this one - tough rocky soil is better than rich soil for a nice wildflower meadow. In the northeast, most of the pretty wildflower and grass patches you might see in the wild exist at least in part because the soil is bad. In addition to bad soil, some sort of repeated disturbance is needed to keep out woody plants. Without disturbance your meadow will turn into shrubs then into a forest. Bad soil means that the disturbance won't have to be as frequent as it would with rich soil. Also, rich soil is great for plants that are adapted for rapid growth in high-nutrient, disturbed conditions. These plants are also known as weeds. If your soil is rocky, maybe it is also excessively drained, which will help reduce weed growth. I wouldn't bother to remove the rocks unless they will interefere with your chosen method of "disturbance." For most of us, disturbance means mowing, and rocks could be a problem for the mower. However, you might have the option of using something besides a standard lawn mower, which really isn't great choice anyway ( I find it mows too low even when on the highest setting and can scalp some perennials), in which case rocks might not be a big concern. Many of the showiest wildflowers are at home in poor, rocky, sunny places. I'd include butterflyweed (Asclepias tuberosa), Black eyed Susan (Rudbeckia hirta), Wild Bergamot (Monarda fistulosa), Nodding Onion (Allium cernuum) in your mix. The grass everyone chooses is Little bluestem, but you could also try Big Bluestem (Andropogon gerardii) and maybe Sideoats Grama (Boueteloua curtipendula). Other wildflowers such as Goldenrods and Asters will introduce themselves. Good Luck!

That soil sounds usable with irrigation. Especially if well mulched and weed competition is minimized. I'd be thinking something more like drip or sprinkler. Furrow irrigation can be very wasteful esp if the soil has rapid infilltration. Climate is important. How much does it rain and is the area prone to long periods of hot dry weather. If you've got enough water furrow can work. Trees can do well and produce high quality fruit with limited water. Quality is usually better with some water deficit than with excess water. Crop is important. Berries and small fruit need more water than tree fruits. Things like jujube laugh at dry weather.

Thanks for doing this project! Proceed as described above, no need to actually dig. Don't get discouraged if it's not spectacular the first year. In California most seed is naturally distributed in summer, then winter rains produce the show in spring. You still have time to make it happen, but it will get better from year to year. Summer may end up looking crispy and dry, but that is the natural progression for seed production and distribution.(The birds like it!) If you need something more to beautify the area during those 'off' months, look for smaller native evergreen shrubs to add the year-round interest or structure. This will a take a few years to become what you imagine. Gardening requires such patience.