Lettuce newbie

Advice please

I prefer lettuce hearts to the green leaves
Have only eaten iceberg for most of life, but have heard it is fussy to grow
Am just starting to garden
Am in very dry, hot climate with little or no cool spring. It usually goes from freezing at night to hot summer in about 2 weeks
Have been reading about bibb and romane lettuce for the packed blanched leaves but have not seen them in real life

is there any type of lettuce out there for me?

Yes oldklingon, I'm quite sure there is a lettuce or two out there for you to grow. My experience is that iceberg lettuce isn't any more difficult to grow than any other. It just takes longer to mature and most varieties tend to bolt in hot weather. The only iceberg type I grow is "Summertime," which produces smaller heads, but beats the supermarket variety ten ways to Sunday in taste. It also is very tolerant of the heat - hence its name.
Other heat tolerant favorites of mine are: "Jericho" a romaine type grown in the Israeli desert, "Lasting Green" and "Prize Leaf" both from Stokes, are very heat tolerant. I recommend scrolling through the plant files under lettuce for more varieties possibly suited for your growing environment.
Keep in mind that lettuce seed simply won't germinate outside when the temp. exceeds a constant 80 degrees. And most lettuces that I am familiar with (I grow over 50 different varieties) require quite a bit of water. In your particular case, you may have to germinate the seed indoors and transplant them outdoors.
If I can be of further help, don't hesitate to contact me.

Bill

Thank you Lettuceman, I didn't realize there were that many different kinds of lettuce to grow, would it help to use shade cloth during the over 100 deg F days and does lettuce require balanced NPK fert or lean heavyer to the N like grasses.

Thanks again

I read somewhere that there are over 700 different varieties of lettuce world-wide. Around 50 different kinds is about all I can handle.
Shade cloth certainly can't hurt when it gets that hot. Summer temps can get over 100 here in my neck of the woods too. I try to find areas in my garden that get morning sun and afternoon shade and plant my seedlings there. Otherwise, I start only those varieties that tolerate heat well. Off the top of my head, there's probably a dozen or so out of the 50 that will fit the bill.
Again, I refer you to the lettuce descriptions in the plant files here. I have commented on quite a few there. Best of luck to you!

Bill