Sorry, no.

Can you run a regular garden hose from a hose bibb to the garden area and attach the soaker hose to the end of it?

Thank you cakbu and Jean. The sprinkler guy agreed to put soakers in the flower gardens even though he says they degrade and inconsistently soak the ground. So I have soakers now. Yay!!

What is the minimum distance they should be from a perennial to ensure the plant receives water? And how long should the soaker be kept on in a hot and dry climate as we're experiencing here this summer?

I've had soakers for many years. They work well if you don't exceed the pressure needed to make them "ooze" rather than spray. Also if you don't exceed the permissible length. (Years ago, labels used to state permissible length -- usually 100 feet.)

You must test the soaker for your soil, both the spacing and the run time.

Is the decision on the depth of of soil soaking a matter of observing my plants and then deciding how much time to soak the soil for?

Make sure your soakers and sprays are on different zones. GPM mismatch.

OK, the latest news is that the soakers were installed BUT it seems that sprinkler people are not gardeners and so haphazardly and therefore ineffectually placed the soakers no where near many of my plants. As well as placing the soakers directly ON TOP of other plants and crushing them. I am so frustrated to the point of not wanting to even call the company to come back make it right because they're demonstrating such incompetence. Ugh. He did use professional grade soakers but not nearly enough length to cover the needs of the plants. I'm learning the hard way that I have wrongly assumed sprinkler companies must necessarily have basic knowledge of plant care. But no. I'll pay him his bill and never call him again. I have another number of a highly recommended company who love plants and flowers who I'll hire to do it right. I'm glad I'm on the right track but I'm stumbling along to get to where I need to be with these flowers that have become such an important part of my life. Plus its been over 100 degrees here and they are new planted so their stress level is very high, poor things....

I've learned over time that if you want it done right, do it yourself!