Julie Kraft earned the Sage and Snow Garden of Beauty Award for her prolific flower gardens. The sounds of Pine Creek in their back yard, the songs of birds, the mature spruce and aspen trees and  the colorful flower gardens make their home a very beautiful space in Shelter Park, Pinedale. Not only does Julie grow a variety of flowers, but her list of native flowers is impressive. She is willing to plant flowers out of their comfort and climate zones in hopes of nurturing them to longevity, but if they don’t return in subsequent years, she treasures the beauty of each growing season with them. Julie especially loves penstemons and primroses, and her list of each species is long. Her penstemons include firecracker, elfin, big blue, Mexicali,  Husker red, Venus, blue lips, pineleaf, Fayette and Rocky Mountain, with colors ranging from red, pink, blue and purple. Julie’s evening primroses include pink, white hairy, white tufted and a yellow evening primrose (adopted from friends from Elk Mountain). The other flowers that vie for space are native asters, allium, wallflower, sticky geranium, bitterroot, scarlet gilia, pussytoes, hens and chicks, Johnny jump-ups, Maltese cross, catmint, lilies, Jacob’s ladder, sedums, native bedstraw, Pearly everlasting, erigeron, delphiniums, native white sage, poppy mallow, grape hyacinths, iris, cranes-bill geraniums, dianthus, snow in winter, pasque flower, balsam root, geum, trollius, poppies, harebells, liatris, peonies,  snow in summer and many colors of dwarf tulips. Though Julie’s primary interest is in flowers, she also grows these perennial edibles:  asparagus, garlic, walking onions, chives, gooseberries and rhubarb. Julie is the supervisor of the Sublette County Weed and Pest District and recently was honored with the Wyoming Weed and Pest Council’s prestigious Everett Johnson Award and the Western Society for Weed Science Manager of the Year Award. She earned her degrees in rangeland ecology and weed science from CSU. Many local folks cherish Julie’s wildflower tours with the Sublette County Native Plant Society. On weekends, Julie and her husband, Jordan, and kids enjoy many fishing, hiking, and outdoor adventures together.