Vincent Parisi isn’t a bit shy and neither are his flowers. “Look at those colors; how bright they are,” he says. “They’re lit up like I turned them on, but there’s no electricity out here.”
Parisi gravitates towards intensely vivid blooms, like the bold purple larkspur that grows in profusion in his manicured beds. He pairs it with yellow Missouri primrose, a move that intensifies the color in each.
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As we walk his yard he points out a few favorites. A neon Asiatic lily orange-red with yellow splotches and speckles, the furled buds and frilly flowers of a hot pink strawflower, the deep red clusters of geraniums just coming into bloom all get the nod from this self-taught gardener.
Passersby on busy North Ballas Road honk and wave. Parisi gives a shout out and returns their greetings. He calls some motorists by name. “I live right down from the park [Des Peres Park.] People slow down to see my flowers,” he says.
He’s got a few perennial workhorse plantings, like the lush liriope and cheerful Stella D’Oro daylilies that dot the landscape, but the dazzling annuals remain his first love.
“I interplant the geraniums with red and yellow celosia,” he says. At maturity, the two plants carpet the beds with color and texture. Parisi enlivens the landscape with zinnias, tall and lanky, short and bushy with blooms variegated or solid, spider-like or handsomely symmetrical, most in eye-popping hues. He likes showy dahlias as well, which will come to full beauty when the zinnias begin to fade.
Parisi places small statuary and critters throughout the garden. “I got my birdy scarecrow at a garage sale,” he says. “I’m always on the lookout for things for the garden.” Rabbits, turkeys, and even cows find a place in his yard. Statues claim center stage in some beds and shyly hide in others. Steel stakes rusted to a fine finish sport dancing figures in one bed.
The intensely personal garden provides comfort and entertainment for Parisi. His love of the garden shows in the weed-free beds, mulched to perfection, in the placement of stones and statuary and in the thoughtful symmetry of beds as they relate to the landscape of the house.
The garden isn’t open to the public, but sunshine slowdowns on busy North Ballas Road give people a good look at Parisi’s work. The flowers, bold and bright, claim the big space as their own. No shy violets here, just a rollicking good garden and an exuberant gardener who planted a brash, beautiful garden for all to see.
