Weather can be bizarrely different from season to season and year to year. It was so cold here this winter, and for such a long period of time, that I lost many plants that had overwintered here for years. It does get over a hundred degrees almost every year and sometimes for two weeks at a time. without any rain the sun can be brutal. I have my LA irises in troughs and tubs with drain holes up on the side so that they do not have to be watered every day. They thrive in that condition. The bearded irises just take everything nature throws at them. The older ones get bleached, drowned, starved and packed in dry hot earth and most keep coming back and blooming. I had some very small MDB's on small pots on a north ridge to see if I could keep them cool and they froze into blocks of ice the size of basketballs...they bloomed this spring. smiles
