Australia is the driest inhabited continent, a fact that might scare off some gardeners. Not David Glenn.

Two decades ago Glenn, a nurseryman from England for whom the word “garden” conjured images of the herbaceous perennial borders of his childhood, moved with his wife, still-life painter Criss Canning, to a windswept plain two hours away from Melbourne. Their original hope was for a modest garden, based on Glenn’s knowledge of plants and Canning’s design skills. Then they bought several acres of land–in a drought-plagued region–and a 19th century farmhouse with a 130-foot-long driveway. Says Glenn: “A modest garden wasn’t possible.”

Nowadays, Lambley Nursery and its spectacular dry gardens–which get watered deeply no more than four times a year–are open to the public every day. Visitors see hundreds of varieties of flowers, vegetables, fruit trees, and other unusual plants imported from climates with hot dry summers and relatively cold winters. (Glenn’s plants thrive in a climate where annual temperatures range from a high of 115 degrees F. to a low of 20 degrees F.) “I do grow some Australian native plants, but I don’t like the rather intolerant horticultural chauvinism that has become popular,” he says. “I choose plants because of their beauty, and because I want to make a beautiful garden. I don’t want to make a political statement.”

Photographs by Iza Bartosiewicz, except where noted.

Above: The dry gardens at Lambley are planted in large swaths of complementary colors and textures. Photograph via Lambley Nursery.

Above: A drift of Sedum spectabile ‘Meteor’; it’s $9 when in stock (Lambley doesn’t not ship internationally, but for US gardeners, Sedum spectabile ‘Brilliant’ is available; three bulbs for $7.95 from Bulbs Direct). Succulents need relatively little water. Image via Lambley Nursery