This planning meeting will help to develop our annual plan, elect officers and allow members to sign up for a variety of club activities and volunteer opportunities.

The Sage and Snow Garden Club will host its annual Garden Tour and Dinner on Saturday, August 6, featuring three local  gardens.  The tour will begin at 1:30  p.m. at the first stop and will end with dinner at the third stop of the tour.  The public is invited to attend all or part of the tour and dinner, and there is no charge for the event.  This tour is a great opportunity for gardeners to see some  unique and beautiful gardens and to ask questions of other gardeners.  Folks new to the community are especially welcome to learn about gardening and landscaping in our challenging growing environment.  The tour will feature raised beds, in-ground garden beds, a greenhouse, beautiful trees and shrubs, and plenty of flowers.  Sage and Snow is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year and has been hosting various annual garden parties, teas, and tours since its inception.   

The first stop commences at 1:30 p.m.  at the home of Ruth and Gary Neely, 75 Fox Willow Drive, on the banks of Pine Creek  in Pinedale.  The Neelys have learned from three generations of family gardeners how to successfully grow plants in Sublette County.  Their yard is lush with unusual trees and shrubs, a native wildflower garden, many different kinds of flowers, and a big vegetable garden.  Refreshments and cold drinks will be served at this stop on the tour. 

At 2:30 p.m., the tour will move to the home of Laurie and Mike McClain at 7 Faler Lane near Pinedale.  Their home overlooks a lush meadow frequented by sandhill cranes, moose, and deer.  They have fenced off a large space to create a  garden with raised beds brimming with vegetables and a border filled with flowers to attract pollinators.  The frost-sensitive plants, such as tomatoes, cucumbers, and peppers, are grown in a small greenhouse near the raised beds.  Cold water will be available at this stop.

AT 3:30 p.m., the tour will move to the spectacular yard of Dorothy and Wayne Fornstrom, 38 Granite Lane, near Pinedale.  The Fornstroms have just about everything in their gardens that will grow in Sublette County.  Their front yard is full of mature trees; the back yard is bordered with sage brush and many different kinds of shrubs.   In between, Dorothy has created several mini  environments to grow vegetables, herbs, and flowers, including a large wildflower garden.  At 4:30, Sage and Snow Garden Club members will serve a bountiful dinner of pulled pork, salads, desserts, and  cold drinks in the Fornstrom gardens. 

Some of the early members of the Sage and Snow Garden Club are still gardening and will be along on the tour to answer gardening questions and offer advice on growing plants in Sublette County. There will be plenty of good food and drinks.  Come and celebrate gardening in Sublette County!   For questions about the tour, contact Arlinda McLaughlin at 307-231-9402. 

Every year the Sage & Snow Garden Club brings a variety of plants lifted from local gardens to sell at a booth to raise money for the club. Tools and other gardening goods are welcome too! We always need members to help work this event so please let us know if you are interested in helping out this year.

One of the largest activities/service we provide as a club is planting and distributing all of the flower barrels that you see at businesses in Pinedale during the summer. We plant 250 of them! We will be planting them on May 21st. After planting they will hang out in our hoop houses for a month before we take them to Town.

We need all the help we can get on planting day! Along with people to plant flowers we need strong volunteers who can lift and carry the planted liners into the hoop houses. We may need people to fill the liners with soil also. It is a fun morning of planting and chatting with other members and then a yummy lunch!! We are going to do a potluck style lunch when we are done planting. Arlinda will provide the sloppy joes!! Members can bring a side or dessert.

This meeting will be a brainstorming session to come up with meeting topics for next year that club members are interested in. We will go over events and assign leads to projects. Club officer elections will also be taking place.