Setting aside memories of the wettest winter in recent history, hundreds of people packed yesterday's annual celebration of all things dry and beautiful in Hono-lulu: the Halawa Xeriscape Garden's annual open house and plant sale.

The event, designed to promote awareness of efficient landscaping through the use of less-thirsty plants, drew a throng of first-time and repeat visitors eager to participate in the garden tours and workshops and, especially, buy plants for their own sun-soaked yards, where the 40 days and nights of rain earlier this year have long been evaporated by the dog days of summer.

More than 100 people were waiting when the gates opened at 9 a.m. A short time later many were walking away with box-loads of succulents, cacti, native Hawaiian and other drought-tolerant plants.

"We've got a tropical wisteria, pineapple plant, angel trumpet, mini-roses and a coconut palm," said Jeanine Potas, who was looking to landscape her new 'Aikahi home, which was planted out with mounds of impractical impatiens and other annuals when she moved in.

"They need tons of water and they're all going to be dead in six months anyway," Potas said. "I'm looking for things that can do well on their own. It's a good way to find pretty things and get advice about how to take care of them."

To the organizers, sale proceeds were less important than spreading the word about gardening practices that conserve water.

"Despite all the rain this year, people still know that our water supply is not endless or cheap," said Wayne Sasaki, president of Friends of Halawa Xeriscape Garden. "They're looking for plants that can keep their water and sewer bills down."

Typically, about 50 percent of water consumption in a single-family home is used outdoors, according to the Honolulu Board of Water Supply. Good xeriscaping practices can cut that consumption anywhere from 30 percent to 80 percent, according to BWS officials.

"A lot of people starting out in homes want yards that look nice, but they don't have the time to spend hours and hours outside," said Alvin Tauruda, owner of the Waihale Products nursery in Waimanalo, who has been selling his plants at the xeriscape event since its inception. "The important thing is they want plants that are low-maintenance."

In some cases, those attending the sale didn't even have a yard in which to put their plants.

"All we have is a sunny lanai on our condominium in Kaka'ako," said first-time visitor Don Sullivan, who was carrying away a box loaded with tillandsia, succulents and cacti. "It seems like these things will survive there and bring a little beauty into our life."

The Board of Water Supply founded the Xeriscape Garden in the late 1980s as a way to show that good-looking gardens and water conservation aren't incompatible. Funds raised from yesterday's plant sale will support educational programs and classes to continue the effort.

Reach Mike Leidemann at mleidemann@honoluluadvertiser.com.