I found the answer to my question last night. I remembered that I had read about Calandrinia in one of the Rock Garden Quarterlies. I went home and looked through the most recent ones and found what I was looking for in Vol. 62 #2 Spring 2004.
I hate it when I plant things in the wrong spot. As I read the article "Growing Calandrinia and Montiopsis" I just shook my head and wondered what I had been thinking as I planted the Calandrinia caespitosa and C. ranunculina.
The article explains that although these plants like drier conditions in the winter they die quickly if allowed to dry out during the growing season. C. caespitosa also likes an eastern or northern exposure. So all in all I planted both of these plants in the worst possible spot I could have. In an unirrigated rock garden with southwestern exposure in UTAH. Moral of the story for me is to research and know what the @#%$ I'm doing when planting new plants.

I'm just learning and thinking about creating a rock garden in UT. Where in UT are you at?

Hello Sage dreamer. I live at 4800' in Santaquin.
I just built my first rock garden this spring. At this point in time I'm mainly interested in Utah native plants, cacti, and plants that adapt well to our climate. I'm also in the beginning stages of creating another rock garden.
Are you a member of the Wasatch Rock Garden Society? You may want to look into joining. They have a yearly garden tour in April that is worth attending.