SUBLETTE COUNTY — Megan Woodward is a gardener who dabbles in all types of gardening and is very successful at it. Megan and Aaron and their three young kids, Cedar, Beckler and Kendall, live in the Green River Ranches subdivision with big beautiful vistas. Their enclosed greenhouse is brimming with tomatoes, beans, beets, peppers, carrots, kale, squash, peas, orach, and cilantro. The large hoophouse with in-ground beds filled with squash, beans, peppers, herbs, beets, and many different types of green leafy vegetables. Much like many other local gardens this summer, these beds have been visited by the ground squirrels but many plants are still thriving. Megan is a very prolific and knowledgeable flower gardener with large beds of beautifully-tended perennial flowers — Columbine, bee balm, bleeding heart, coneflower, dianthus, ajuga, sedums, scabiosa, geum, peonies, iris, hollyhocks, veronica, geraniums, Lamium, hostas, delphinium, poppies, cerastium (snow in summer), salvia, black-eyed Susan, coreopsis, brunera, primrose, bishop’s weed (snow in winter), phlox, yarrow, bachelor buttons, creeping thyme, hens and chicks, clematis, lilacs, and roses, all tended to perfection and flowering in their full glory. She also has beds of potatoes, garlic, strawberries, raspberries, chives, rhubarb, and horseradish. It is rare to find such a wide variety of perennial plants (those that come back every year) in Sublette County. Megan knows how to keep them in check while they flourish. When you think you can’t grow anything in Sublette County, it is nice to be reminded that with work and water, many plants thrive here, both edible and ornamental. 

Annual garden tours

The Sage and Snow Garden Club is hosting its annual garden tour and dinner on Saturday, Aug. 10, featuring four beautiful local gardens and culminating in a free dinner. 

The tour begins at 1 p.m. at Cassy and Tom Johnston’s home, 61 Sandy Lane, off Highway 191.  Cassy has three large hoop houses for growing warm-season crops and a large outdoor in-bed garden loaded with a huge variety of vegetables, all irrigated with an automated drip system.  The second stop on the tour, from 2-3 p.m., is at Andrea and Jim Ennis’s gardens at 32 Old Brazzill Ranch Road in the  Old Brazill subdivision, also off Highway 191. Andrea and Jim have converted big gas field tanks into beautiful flower and vegetable gardens, complete with automated drip irrigation. 

The third stop, from 3-4 p.m., is at Marianne and Mark Mrak’s home in Pinedale at 144 West Buffalo Street. The Mrak’s have created a paradise of vegetables and flowers in their backyard using lean to hot-houses, corrugated metal raised beds, wooden raised beds and lick tubs, all with automated drip irrigation.

The final stop on the tour is at 4 pm at Dorothy and Wayne Fornstrom’s home in Pinedale at 39 Granite Lane, where Dorothy has big beautiful flower gardens, shrubs and trees, as well as lick tubs full of vegetables. 

Sage and Snow members will serve a pulled pork dinner with sides, desserts and drinks to attendees at about 4:30 p.m. in the Fornstrom’s gardens. The garden tour and dinner are a great opportunity to learn how to garden in our challenging environment and to connect with other local gardeners. 

Everyone is welcome to attend any or all of the tours and the dinner. These events are free and open to the public. 

Bring your hats, sunscreen and water bottles to stay hydrated all afternoon. For more information, contact Arlinda McLaughlin at 307-231-9402.