Gardening in very dry soil

I recently moved from the Fraser Valley to Grand Forks and the landscape is foreign to me. Our land is on the north slope facing south, very dry soil is mostly gravel to large rock. The plants recommended to me all died.the only flourish was the nurseries pocket. What can I try to use as spreading ground covers and also shrubs? We are short on water also. We also have a lot of warm wind.The rainfall in the last 4 months was practically non existent. more...