RHS Hyde Hall is Essex (clay) has created a (free draining) gravel garden on a mix of sand, grit, soil and rubble. Like Beth Chatto's dry garden, the plants are watered initially and then never watered again. It's thriving 22 years in.
I plant many of these in a dry part of my garden (the bottom of the garden is prone to flooding in winter) on a light sandy loam with good drainage over a gravelly subsoil. I do not water them. This year I have had a few casualties although normally all is fine. I have lost a parahebe and several geraniums, although I agree that Salvias (proving surprisingly hardy these days) the Stipa and Euphorbias have done very well. The real stars have been Achillea and Rudbeckia which seem to cope with anything.
That looks like an interesting list, but I can't make anything of the video (poor sound). True alpines like the arenaria will be fine in a UK winter as long as their roots and crowns don't sit in wet soil, but I suspect some of the others won't take any frost at all and some will need complete sharp drainage and only tolerate infrequent rainfall. At some point I'll check and then decide what might be worth trying here.
Doncaster, South Yorkshire. Soil type: sandy, well-drained
I don't have rock crevices, so possibly not for me even though I have pretty good drainage. Anything less hardy than H3 isn't worth the risk here, and H3 is dodgy if we get a 2010-11 type of winter.
Doncaster, South Yorkshire. Soil type: sandy, well-drained
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