Well hey - here I am, on the other side of the world, thinking of doing exactly the same...prompted largely by this terrible droughty summer (and I already live in a county classed as semi arid). So, right now, I am looking at bulbs, because of the time of year...and I swear, there is nothing lovelier than wild tulips. Native to Tien Shan, Afghanistan, Armenia, Greece and such, these little bulbs like nothing more than a dry, well drained soil. I have ordered a coupla hundred, of various species, mostly with unspellable and unpronounceable names. I would definitely consider t.saxatilis, t.clusiana and other Mediterranean ones as I am not certain how much winter chilling some of the little bulbs might require (although they do well in our mild UK winters).

These are going to sit on the edge of what was my old gravel garden - currently about to be re-ordered, edited and generally messed around with, while maintaining the same principle of a scree bed/gravel bed. Looking at it, at this end of the summer, it's much harder to recall the early part of the season and what did well for me then (verbascum, catanache, lavender, euphorbias and dianthus) but currently, the various shrubby salvias are still stellar and very long blooming (I have half a dozen of these), along with the ubiquitous verbena and a tall, airy althea cannabina. A lot of the spring flowering plants go dormant over summer, leaving spaces for the later flowering annuals.

I have ordered from Ginny, at Seedhunt before, and will do again, filling in with platystemon, layia, stylomecon, aronia, baileyii...along with a few SA daisies such as ursinia, arctotis, felicia, dimorpotheca. Any gaps left over will be colonised by californian poppies.

Over the years, the gravel garden has lost definition, especially because larger shrubs have increased and are in danger of taking over what was once a sunny and open space. A gigantic cistus and over enthusiastic perovskia have to go, along with too many volunteers which are not appropriate, A huge sedum is now out of scale, so will need editing so that my precious romneya has a chance to establish. Also, a large baptisia, left because I couldn't face the taproot, simply has to go (it was a painfully unhappy bloomer and the leaves shrivelled in the heatwave),. Basically, I have the bones of this in hand and need some savage culling. Overall, it has been my most enduring and pleasurable part of the allotment so I think you will very much enjoy growing smaller, compact plants such as lewisia and a tiny gypsophila type of thing, plus callirhoe, sphaeralcea and penstemons. I also had a few sisyrinchiums (sp?) which have been thugged out by larger plants and may need replacing. There are a LOT of possibilities here.

I am going to leave some of the agaves and succulents out over winter...and definitely considering opuntia and more hardy cactii. Apols for excited rambling - this is my current obsession at the moment and unfortunately, you are now part of the conversation (cos it is a lonely position, dribbling on about Z8/9 plants on a forum filled with lush perennial lovers who can grow stuff like rudbeckia, astilbe and actaeas (none of which survive my dry climate).

@rosaprimula I like your thinking. I plan to come back within the week and research some of the genera you have listed. Is there any chance you could show photos of the types of tulips you like and that you think work well with desert flowers? It's a very eclectic and interesting idea, and it would add seasonal surprises. What would be especially interesting is to find tulips with different bloom cycles, so that a new tulip is always sprouting up unexpectedly throughout the year. If you have any photos showing desert flower arrangements that strike your fancy show those too.

”a forum filled with lush perennial lovers who can grow stuff like rudbeckia, astilbe and actaeas (none of which survive my dry climate).” I think you’ll find a lot of people on here can only grow these things by using irrigation. It seems to be standard in much US gardening.

I am rubbish with photos and such but I will try to take some pics when they bloom next spring. Species tulips have a season which stretches across 3 months, with my favourites - tulipa sprengeri - blooming last of all in late May. They do not need extensive winter chilling and are infinitely more reliable and perennial. They are not anymore expensive than hybrid garden tulips (although a few, such as t.sprengeri, t. caerulea albo-ovata, are spendy). Bulbs have been generally good for me - the extra storage (corm, tuber, bulb) seems to offer a buffer against climate extremes (but this could also be wishful thinking on my part). I also do a lot of container gardening and again, bulbs have proved to be good choices for pot culture. For later summer, you could also grow geophytes such as zephyranthes, romulea, autumn crocus and uvularia at the other end of summer.

I grow around 2 dozen species and checked to see that Brent and Becky's carry a decent range in the US. I am particularly fond of batalinii, hageri, orphanidea, saxatilis. Some have good foliage and die gracefully (a real consideration when growing in mixed beds/borders).

Is that so, Floral? I honestly didn't know (how many people were actively irrigating flowers). I don't mind watering while a plant is getting established but I don't want to do it after the first year. I thought that was a pretty normal position to take and most people on here were only watering in an emergency (or because they had lawns) as they were all growing climate appropriate plants. I get that containers and crops need watering. I spend untold hours doing it in my minuscule (pot) garden at home...and I spent all my allocation of spare time and turns on the hose, just keeping the potatoes afloat at the allotment. No way am I doing extra for flowers.