Sharon and John Vaughn didn’t always have the time to go off on vacations, so instead they built themselves an outdoor oasis in the yard of their Escalon home that they can visit any time.

“We both worked so much we could never get away,” Sharon Vaughn said. “We worked three jobs and then farmed, so this was our little sanctuary.”

What they created is a beautiful yard of well-manicured lawns, a myriad of colorful flowers and lush greenery. The centerpiece of the yard is a giant magnolia tree planted in the 1930s.

For Sharon Vaughn the green thumb was something she inherited.

“My grandmother and my mom were gardeners and inspired me,” she said. “My grandmother’s yard in Oakdale was always the feature shot in the spring story for the Oakdale Leader in the 1940s and 1950s. She just made me love gardening.”