Recently, Alicia Boor, Barton County Extension Agent, introduced Great Bend gardeners to water wise plants endorsed by Kansas State University. It’s part of a statewide effort to help Kansans make better choices that will add beauty while conserving water in the landscape. “We have been in a pretty massive drought, that isn’t ending,” she said.She spotlighted the new Prairie Star and Prairie Bloom plant designations, a list of rated landscape plants that researchers at KSU have put through trials and can back up claims that they will perform well under all the extremes of weather and soil conditions found throughout the state.