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. They used a seven-point scale, rating performance from awful to spectacular.
Prairie Star plants include annual flowers that rate a six or more.  Prairie Bloom plants, similarly, include perennial plants with the same ratings.   

Availability
Finding plants on either list can be a challenge, since the program is geared toward education rather than marketing.  At garden centers, shoppers won’t find an identifiable label.  Paying close attention to the variety of plants listed is key.  Some, like petunias, have several varieties, many of which aren’t listed on the Prairie Star list.  
“We grow most of what we sell at the nursery, and we’re definitely looking at the Prairie Star recommendations,” said Chad Lagerman of Northview Nursery, Great Bend.   
Lagerman said he’s seen increased demand for landscapes that use water more efficiently, and recommends the more drought tolerant, native plants, along with more hard goods, like interesting boulders, that take up space and provide a contrast to plant material.
Perennials that can take the heat and last a long time, like the Prairie Bloom varieties, are also popular, especially among gardeners that want a garden that will come back for years to come.   
“Right now, echinaceas are very popular,” he said. Others, like salvias, some coreopsis, gaillardia, and phlox, once established take the heat and wind and drought very well and stand on their own with very little care too.  Shrubs are a good choice too.  One, crepe myrtle, performs well with hardly any rain, Lagerman said.
“You see them along highways in Texas, and they are full of blooms when everything else is suffering,” he said.
This attention to plant selection is just one aspect of a multi-faceted landscaping philosophy called Xeriscape, which Boor touched on at her recent talk.

Xeriscape v. Zero-scape
Some communities, like Hays, have tightly restricted the use of for landscaping purposes, prompting homeowners and the city to look for alternatives to traditional grasses, shrubs and trees that require more water to maintain.  
And while Great Bend and the surrounding area isn’t experiencing restrictions, lingering drought has taken a toll on lawns and borders  and parks throughout the area.  As homeowners look to replace those key elements of the landscape that haven’t fared well, now is a great time to consider some changes that could help conserve water, as well as labor and money spent on fertilizer and other amendments now and in the future, Lagerman said.
At her talk, Boor introduced a landscaping trend beginning to take hold in the state called Xeriscape.
In the late 1970s, the Denver Water Department in Denver, Colo., coined the term ‘Xeriscape’ to describe water efficient landscaping.   It is now a trademark belonging to the Denver Water Department.  It basically refers to drought-tolerant landscaping.   
Boor explained it did not mean “zero-scape,” and certainly did not mean replacing lawns with gravel and rocks as seen in some desert landscapes.  It instead refers to a system of zoned landscaping where plants are grouped by similar needs for water and light.  This way, landowners find the landscape requires less use of resources and labor to maximize use and attractiveness.  
There are seven principles that come into play.  They include design, soil amendment, efficient irrigation, proper plants in zones, mulch, reducing turf, and proper maintenance.  When optimized, the result can be a colorful, attractive and inviting landscape that will last for several years with a minimum of cost and effort.  

Grouping plants for water, light
Placement of plants with different needs requires strategy too.  Keep plants with higher water needs close to water sources, and save drier plantings for areas further away from the home.  There are many attractive, colorful plants that thrive in less than ideal conditions.  And there’s still room for the higher water use, traditional annuals found at garden centers everywhere, as long as they are used selectively.  A good example is in pots or beds closer to a water source, grouped together based on similar needs.
Where gardeners run into trouble is when they mix low water plants with high water plants.  Regardless of water needs, drip irrigation systems can help, Lagerman said.  With different types of drip emitters, more or less water can be directed to best meet the needs of a particular plant.  

Demo Gardens
A publication produced by Kansas State University in March defines the seven principles of Xeriscaping and provides diagrams illustrating this idea.  It can be ordered from KSU Extension or the pdf downloaded at http://www.sedgwick.ksu.edu/doc26631.ashx .
For those who prefer to see for themselves, there are several Xeriscape demonstration gardens around Kansas.  The city of Hays website mentions four within Hays, and Botanica in Wichita includes one demonstration garden also.  Prairie Star and Prairie Bloom plants are incorporated into the gardens.