Hello, and thanks for joining us for another episode of Mid-American Gardener.

I'm your host, Tinisha Spain.

Now, you may remember earlier in the summer, we went to the 2026 Champaign County Master Gardeners Garden Walk.

Well, this week on the show, we are going to go behind the scenes at one of the homes featured on that walk.

And when I tell you this place is gorgeous, believe me, this is the home of Sharon and Elmer Lash, and they have Tranquility Garden.

So let's go find them and get a tour.

All right.

And now, so we're in the backyard of Sharon and Elmer's house right now.

First of all, we haven't even seen the whole thing, but what I'm seeing right now is absolutely beautiful.

Tell me a little bit about what you call this garden.

Well, this is the bonsai garden, and that whole yard is a. Serenity.

It's a serenity garden.

I love that.

I see the Japanese elements throughout.

Is that something that sort of guided when you were putting the gardens together and decorating?

Yes, in the last couple of years.

The bonsai, we got that interest and just expanded.

Yes.

You got bit by the bug and then off and went.

Yeah, that's it.

Now your house was featured on the garden walk.

We talked a little bit about that.

Yes.

How many folks do you think came through here that day?

They told us a little over 1200.

Oh my gosh.

That's a busy day.

It's a day.

Very.

Busy.

Yes.

We had a great group.

I bet.

And I'm sure everyone was impressed because you have a beautiful garden.

Thank you.

Thank.

You.

So I'd love over the course of the show for you guys to show us around, maybe show us some of your favorites, some of the things that got you started in the Japanese kind of tranquility gardens, but I'm really excited to go have a look around.

Great.

Well, this has been about a year and a half to two years, this area of a garden.

Now the bonesais, those are relatively new.

You said that was a new hobby.

In the.

Last year and a half, some I bought from Brussels Bonsai in Mississippi, some locally.

And it's just taken off from there.

And I had a wife that lets me do that.

Now, which was your first one?

What was your first bonsai purchase?

Do you remember?

Two of these junipers that are.

On the fence.

The junipers there?

Yes.

What was it about the Japanese garden that drew you in?

Well, just the serenity of it and the beauty of the bonesai.

And these junipers need very little care.

In bonsai, you pick inside or outside or a combination.

I like the outside.

Much easier to maintain and easier to grow.

You have any faves?

Oh gosh.

That's.

Hard.

And I know that's.

A hard question.

Very.

Hard.

We do like these.

I do.

And the little ones sort of compliment the big ones.

I like the forests, the big ones down here.

Those.

Are really.

Pretty.

And you said they don't.

Require.

A lot of maintenance, huh?

So.

They're pretty -.

No, I trim them once a year.You get.

To enjoy.

Them.

Right.

Here we have the Ginkgo fence in the back, which I think is a really nice feature.

And you hear the little ran chirping over here in the Japanese birdhouse, the pagoda.

And this tree, umbarella pine was a favorite on the garden walk.

And it is a very, very beautiful plant.

Now over wintering, do you have any trouble with anything here over wintering?

We.

Really don't.

The bonesai, I put in a unheated garage that I own down the street and just give them a little water now and.

Then.

Just a little.

And.

They're happy.

They don't take much when they're dormant.

So it's fairly easy to take care of really with the outside ones.

Sure.

Now you said in the beginning when you were doing your garden, you did a lot of annuals and have since moved into perennials.

Right.

Tell us a little bit about that.

Well, we had 600 annuals down along the lake.

A lot of maintenance.

A lot of cost.

We got tired of that and doing it every year.

Went to roses.

Then the Japanese beetles drove us out of the roses.

And so now we're into what it is.

A little bit of Japanese decor.

And it's very tranquil.

Yeah.

Yes.

Let's go take a look.

Now this I could get used to.

This shop right here, you get to see that every morning.

We do.

While you're drinking your coffee.

It was popular.

On the garden.

Walk.

Oh, I bet.

I bet.

And we just keep adding things as all gardeners do.

Yes.

And the best part is this is so low maintenance that you can literally just enjoy it.

That's.

Exactly right.

At our age, low maintenance is important.

That's right.

Very nice.

We did this in 2011.

And of course when you put something like this in, you think about the expense.

Yes.

But it's something we've enjoyed.

Yes.

So.

It was worth it.

It was worth it.

That's my point.

Yes.

Thank you.

And this.

Fagota was given to me when I retired from teaching.

That was one of the first things we had.

Yes.

That's one of the.

First features, huh?

One.

Of the first features.

So then when we did all this, that was the ideal place to put it.

Yeah.

And just kept adding more Japanese things after that.

What sort of feedback were you getting from folks on the garden walk when they were visiting?

Were they.

Just - They were just surprised at the volume that we have, the high plant count.

They wanted to know if we'd been to Japan.

I said, no, we haven't been out of champagne.

That was the question I had because the influence is just very strong.

Throughout us.

Yeah.

We just liked it.

Simple.

And just has great beauty and easy to take care of.

The tree up here with the rounded top.

Yes.

Everyone has interest in that.

And we've always wondered what it is.

And we've had a dozen different theories, but someone came with a plant identification program and it came out to be a plum.

Oh.

And it does have a little red berry, which the birds really like in the winter.

But it was here when we came and we just got it trimmed up.

Very nice.

Yeah.

Now you guys collect hosta as well.

Yes.

How many hostas?

We have -.

That means a lot.

The lab means a lot.

We have 175 different hostas.

Oh.

Wow.

It's probably been up and down.

You know how that goes?

Oh, sure.

Sure.

And it gets in anything you get to collecting while you just get more and more.

Yes, that's how that goes.

Yeah.

Well, that's a nice one.

We better get it.

I don't think we have that one.

We better get it.

Exactly.

I just like.

It.

Yes.

Yeah.

The hydrangea tree is one of my favorite things in the yard.

I love that tree.

That is really.

Pretty.

And the conifer gardens.

I love how you have different places to sit and enjoy your garden as well from different perspectives.

Yes.

Now this is lovely with the swing up here.

Oh.

Thank you.

What's the best part of the day to enjoy this?

Oh, the evening.

Evening.

This is the evening spot, huh?

In the evening.

But it's nice anytime because of the big trees.

And down here around the curve, new conifer that we got that's very unusual.

It's called a bird's nest.

This one, it looks like a bird's.

Nest.

It does look like a bird's nest.

And then.

These are fragrant bouquet around the hostas, around the outside of that.

So that's a new thing we've added.

And these are some of my favorites, this color.

I love this color of pasta.

What would you say to someone who is watching this and dreaming of this being their yard, but they're at the very beginning of their gardening journey?

What's some advice you would give?

Just to be patient and buy what you really enjoy and you would want in a garden and not to get in a big hurry.

It all develops over time.

But just to get things that you really enjoy and love.

Buy the things that you love.

That's what I heard.

That's right.

Buy the things that you love.

And actually buy things that don't require a lot of care.

I mean, these things, they just flourish on their own.

Elmer gives them 10, 10, 10 every spring and that's about it.

And then in the fall you cut them down and you've had a whole summer to enjoy.

And they're beautiful and they don't require very much work at all.

Do you ever have deer come up and munch on your - No, I don't.

Think we do.

We have seen a couple deer over the years, but we haven't found them eating.

And we've moved things a lot.

When you first get into gardening, you don't really think about, "I can't move that.

I'm going to kill it."

We move stuff just whenever we want to.

Yes.

We do.

Look.

At that.

That.

Pompom, that's fun.

Oh, yes.

We have several of those in the yard.

We have 120 conifers throughout the yard, so we really like.

Conifers.

All right.

So this is the hosta bed, right?

This is the hosta bed.

Now, how long have you been working on this?

Adding to it and switching things out?

We came in 2001 and I think about 2004 we started planting hot.

This was nothing, but it had evergreen, big, huge evergreen trees in here.

And we had all those taken out.

We just started all over.

So we started planting hostas in 2004.

Wow.

And every year we add some more.

Yes.

Very nice.

Do you have a favorite variety of hosta or is there a color that you prefer?

I like the lime green ones.

How about you, Elmer?

No, I don't have a. Favorite.

Don't know favorites?

Yeah.

The lime green ones are always very pretty.

I like to add just a nice pop.

Right.

With hostas, you pick a favorite and then you'll see 10 more that you.

Like.

That is so true.

The next year, another stunner will come out.

That's right.

Yeah.

We have a bench up here for sitting in this garden.

Oh, lovely walking path.

Yes.

Yeah.

That great big one back there looks very happy.

We've got some ferns in here.

This is just so thoughtful.

It's lovely.

Back.

To the serenity.

Back to serenity.

Yep.

Now these trees, are these all maples?

Yeah, Japanese.

These are all Japanese.

Yep.

And they're pretty slow growing too, right?

They are.

You're correct.

Yes, they are.

He loves Japanese maple.

Now, how many years have you guys done the garden walk?

Two.

We've.

Done two.

So this was only your second time?

Right.

And you guys brought in over a thousand visitors.

That's something.

Yeah.

This is a redbud called Sunrise.

And everyone seems to like it because it's something a little different.

It's get a multi-color.

Leaves at different.

Times in the year.

And it sort of compliments the hostage.

There's a group of about eight different Japanese maples that were developed by a gentleman, I believe, in North Carolina.

And this is called a ghost series and they're very popular.

We've got purple ghost - Sister ghost.

Sister.

Ghost.

Sister ghost.

I think Auburn ghost.

Yeah.

We've got four or five of them.

I lost track.

I don't think I've ever seen so many Japanese maples.

In one place.

Yeah, that's probably right.

I was asked many times, why do we need another Japanese maple?

I. Like this lacy one.

It doesn't even look like a Japanese maples.

That's called green cascade, which is appropriate.

I love that one.

A little bit different.

Yeah.

It.

Just.

Grows.

Takes on kind of like a shrubby appearance.

It does.

Yeah.

Beautiful.

And then of course when I was walking up to your house, I noticed the tree growing on the -.

Espalier.

Yeah.

Now, does that naturally grow that way or did you have to train it?

I mean, obviously you had to train it, but does it naturally grow against surfaces that way?

Yes, it will.

But that's really just a shrub.

That's you.

And it was here when we came and we've trained it some.

And this one, we put in the apple espalier we.

Put in.

We put that in.

We didn't realize at the time we were putting that in for the squirrels.

Right.

Nature has a way of letting you know.

Who's in charge?

Even with the roses, with the squirrels.

You see all these rocks, Denisha?

I. Do.

Well, when we came here, there were two big pear trees, ornamental pear trees here.

Oh no.

We.

Talk a lot about those.

All of these rocks, all around the yard you'll see them were in that bed.

Oh wow.

We had to take them out.

So what are we going to do with all these rocks?

And there you.

Have it.

Yeah, we got them.

That's right.

This is the garden up by this window box that I. Another garden I like.

It's conifer.

I really like the Japanese grass up there.

I think that the color is really nice and.

Very peaceful.

Yeah.

You guys were very intentional at creating a very serene - Well.

Good.

I'm.

Glad to hear.

You say that.

And I'm so glad you had help for Master Gardeners the day of the walk because chining up 1200 people would've been.

Yes.

They were.

Tremendous.

Yes.

Yeah.

And I love the labels.

Oh, thank.

You.

Keeps everything straight and we used.

To have them all labeled, but that's got away from.

Us.

Yeah.

I wish we had more of them labeled.

Now these are huge.

Yeah.

These are some of the oldest ones.

This is really where we started over here.

And goodness gracious.

Which one is it on the line over.

Here?

Is that.

This.

One?

Yep.

That's a favorite.

And it's a really old one.

In fact, you can't buy it anymore.

No kidding.

Yeah.

Uh-oh.

We better not say that too loud.

Yeah.

Limited edition, huh?

Yeah.

Lots of hostage.

Lots of hosta.

John Bodensteiner, he's one of our panelists.

He's a Vermilion County master gardener.

He also is a hosta collector.

So I have to go back in my notes and tell him that I saw hundreds of hosta on today's shoot.

I think he said he has a collection of about 300 or so as well.

Oh.

My goodness.

You're in good company.

That's good.

Yes.

Oh, wow.

But I love this color because see how it shines in the sun?

I just think that's so pretty.

So you come and cut everything back in all of the beds, all of the hosta, you cut them back?

We have Liza Weber, Shafer, do it for us.

She cuts them all back every year.

We've been fortunate to have good help.

Yes.

Yes.

That's important.

Yes, at our age.

With all of this, it would take you all day.

Oh yeah.

It gets to be a lot of work.

Just going around and cutting the flowers off in the last hour.

Sure.

This is a favorite tree.

What's this one, Elmer?

Makawa Yakabusa.

That's a very favorite.

Makawa Yakabusa.

That's.

A mouthful.

Yeah.

It was affected a little bit by the drought last year.

And then we got the exact opposite this year.

Yes, right.

That's.

Part of it, isn't.

It?

Yes.

Yes, it is.

And this is called butterfly.

I could.

See that.

Japanese maple.

But we had a big one out in the garden that was round on a stem and it didn't make it through last winter.

See, that's the heartbreaking part.

Yes.

It.

Is.

Gardening when something doesn't flourish or doesn't make it, but.

But.

We've sort of learned to live with it.

Just go buy some more.

Yes, exactly.

And I love how you've got the ferns kind of just interspersed all throughout just to add more texture, more color.

Well, this is going right through the bush and Elmer really likes that.

Coming.

Up through the bush.

Very pretty.

So this little section here is adorable.

Oh, thank you.

The Buddha.

And tell me about this bench.

Where did you guys -.

Well.

Our.

Neighbor had several Tibetan type things and she moved.

And so she had a little sale.

And so I sort of liked the looks of it.

And I said, "Well, I think I'll use that.

To.

Put a bonsai on."

And it worked out.

It did.

It looks lovely.

Yeah.

Looks lovely.

It's a neat.

Piece.

Very old.

This is a bald cypress like you'd see in the swamps in Florida or Louisiana and down in there.

It's an old tree.

It's probably 15 to 20 years old.

You can see the big trunk on it.

Trident Maple, which is probably at least 15 years old.

Well, if serene and calm was what you were going for, you definitely succeed.

Well, thank you.

You definitely succeeded.

Gold stamp of approval.

Good.

Thank you so much for opening your backyard to us and showing us around.

This was even more than.

Just reading the description, I was like, "Oh, this is going to be beautiful," but it's even more lovely in person.

Well, you're very.

Kind.

We're so happy.

To have you here.

Of course.

Thanks for letting us come out.

And I'm sure everyone at home is taking notes and we're going to be trying to copy some of these things next year.

So we really appreciate your time.

Thank.

You very much.