Famous gardener does great work in privacy of his home

What does one of Utah's most famous gardeners do after putting away his tools and retiring? He certainly does not take a permanent break from the soil, but instead focuses on his dream garden.

Peter Lassig spent more than 40 years lovingly tending the gardens at the headquarters properties for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He modestly refers to his title there as the gardener at Temple Square. Seven years ago, he hung up his trowel there and started devoting more of his time to his personal gardens.

After spending that long taking care of world-famous gardens your blood is likely a little low on hemoglobin, but has plenty of green chlorophyll to make up the difference. Lassig has continued his remarkable transformation of his landscape both inside and out.

He credits his wife, Janet, for the beauty of the interior gardens. She cares for some 250 plants spread throughout virtually every room in the home. Peter says that to give them all a thorough watering and the care they need may take as long as three hours per day.

The Lassig home did not always look the way it looks now. It was a ranch-style home with a low-pitched roof and resembled many of the other homes in the neighborhood.

About 10 years ago, Lassig sketched out ideas for remodeling his home. His children were almost all grown and he'd worked on the house for three to five years. He started by converting the garage into a greenhouse base and built a greenhouse on the top of the concrete roof he installed.

"My plan was to make it strong enough to support a car. You could park your car anywhere up there, but I wanted it strong enough that I could grow anything I wanted to on the second story. We reinforced the bottom story with wood-clad steel beams so they did not look so foreboding."

He also pushed out and added bay windows at several other locations where he wanted more light inside the home. That allows him to grow amazing plants.

The marvelous ferns that grace numerous rooms in the home are spectacular.

Unlike most Boston ferns that struggle inside homes, these are flourishing like they were growing in an Olympic rain forest.

While the downstairs greenhouse is impressive, the upstairs has many exciting plants. This is reached by a movable ladder. This area is divided into different zones depending on the heat needs and the light needs of the different plants.