This comprehensive volume provides specific information about shrubs, trees, grasses, forbs, and cacti that are native to most states in the Intermountain West, and that can be used in landscaping to conserve water, reflect and preserve the region's landscape character, and help protect its ecological integrity. The book is an invaluable guide for the professional landscaper, horticulturist, and others in the Intermountain nursery industry, as well as for the student, general reader, gardener, and homeowner.

Water Wise is both convenient and comprehensive. The heart of the book presents hundreds of species, devoting a full page to each, with a description of appearance, habitat, landscape use, and other comments. Color photographs illustrate each plant described. A reader-friendly introduction provides important background on the ecology of the Intermountain West, along with full descriptions of native plant habitats and associations.

“This book is a standard must-read for gardeners in the Historic Granite Community who truly want a landscape design that is attractive, easy to maintain, and, well, “wise” in the use of water. The book is academically sound because it is written by landscape architects, horticulturalists, and college professors in agriculture and related fields. It is a fun, easy-to-read, reference guide which homeowners and landscapers alike can easily grasp when planning a new landscape design or when modifying an existing landscape design.

This masterwork defines various Intermountain West Plant Communities in such a way that both the expert and the amateur can create a design which is natural, compatible, and comfortable in “the mountain brush” community of plants which is native to the Historic Granite Community. When native plants are thoughtfully included in a water-wise landscape design, the plants thrive beautifully on less water and the gardener thrives beautifully because less maintenance is needed.”