Our climates are similar in that our winter lows are about the same. But we get more rainfall and it mostly occurs from mid Fall thru Spring. It also is a little slower receiving warm spells here also. I started with a small cactus collection and decided to incorporate desert plants as well. Our natives are planted as also, but they're mostly blooming in Spring. Included a lot of Southwest perennials, annuals, and shrubs. This keeps the hummers, butterflies, and bees happy thru Fall. They can be coaxed into reflowering by sprinklers simulating rainfall. The soil here is awful, decomposed shale, and 1-2 feet deep. So layed about 1 foot thick mixture of sand and gravel to compensate for the 30-36 inches of seasonal rain. After 3 years, it seems to be working. The heat is quite hard on the traditional annuals one plants. Water has become a concern here too.
