Alan, this may be a reason why many people give up on alpines because so many of them do need good moisture levels along with excellent drainage (aeration), and coolth. When you see meconopsis and primulas and autumn gentians in all their glory and just can't really grow them in your own climate it can exclude a wider appreciation of those plants that do come from much drier climates. We are exceptionally dry this summer, after record rainfall last year which kept the garden much more lush. There is not a terribly alpine feel to the garden and it looks very sad as the grass turns brown and everything goes over as fast as it flowers. Can you love an eryngium as much as a meconopsis?
Eryngium bourgatii is stunning in our garden at the moment but given the choice I suspect most gardeners would want to grow the meconopsis. There are those plants that tolerate and even thrive under these conditions (viz. Beth Chatto's gravel garden) and that seems one of the essential things that gardening teaches - to capitalise on your own situation. Snowdrops do well even in dry chalky woodland such as Lorendon near to us! Winter is actually one of the best times in dry climate.
(The problem for the nurseryman is that everyone wants strong, lush and perfectly grown plants all the time which are not so easy to produce under present conditions
).
This has been a star plant for us this summer but it wouldn't fare well at Craigieburn or probably even Slacktop -
Linum narbonense.
