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Not your garden-variety gardens
The gardens of David Hoffman and Kraig Paradise, though radically different, are like a bit of heaven
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| David Kennedy photo - Kraig Paradise planted a Missouri wildflower garden to protect the flowers from encroaching builders, as well as to attract birds and butterflies. |
 
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David Hoffman's English-style daylily garden also draws birds and butterflies, but, for him, gardening is all about working with nature. He said he feels that he's never closer to God than when he's in the garden.
Hoffman and Paradise wouldn't know each other from Adam. They've never even spoken by phone. But each man has focused on making his part of the world more beautiful by meticulously planting his favorite flowers.This isn't just another story about beautiful gardens. It's a look at two radically different gardens, two very different gardening philosophies and one obsession.
A small, stone path connects Paradise's front, side and back yards, the start of a roundabout trail leading through towering silver maples and masses of large and small flowering plants.
"It's a place to walk quietly and peacefully," he said, as countless chirping birds drowned out the sounds of traffic.
Hoffman's garden surrounds his home with a riotous mix of 1,100 types of daylilies. The intensely colored blooms are quite a surprise for first-time drivers on his quiet Pasadena Hills street.
Paradise prefers the beauty of the wild. A self-described nature nut and amateur naturalist, he plants wildflowers to protect them from encroaching builders, and to attract birds and butterflies that feed in the garden.
He estimates that, this summer, he's seen 81 types of birds and 50 types of butterflies.
Paradise, 52, has gardened for 18 years. He incorporates gardening into his work as a Special School District occupational therapist at Larimore and Northview schools.
Hoffman, 60, didn't start out as a gardener. Initially, he had a floral shop in Red Bud, Ill. In 1969, thanks to friends, he immersed himself in daylilies. He now works as a floral designer in West County.
Hoffman has been planting and adding to the collection for seven years. He said gardening is not only good for the soul, but also exercise; he has lost 12 pounds since spring.
Gardening is time consuming. Paradise averages two hours a day, while Hoffman averages four per day.
While some daylilies measure up to 5 feet, they seem undersized when compared to wildflowers that can measure greater than 6 feet tall.
Paw-paws, deep thickets of wild grapevine, sunflowers, elderberries, purple poppy mallows and ironweed are prominent in Paradise's garden.
White bellflowers stand tall beside delicate and low-to-the-ground frost flowers. Several types of milkweed appear, along with purple coneflowers, elephant's foot, and buttonbushes.
Daylily names can be as colorful and bold as the blooms. Names such as Wizard's Flame, Jumbo Shrimp, Catfish Bob, Red-Headed Hussy, Banana Cream Beauty and Torch Song Trilogy are not just for identification; they describe the color or something personal about the creator of the crossbred flower.
Hemerocallis (hem-er-o-kal-lis), the botanical name for daylily, is Greek for "beautiful for a day." Each flower opens for one day, to be succeeded by the next day's blossom.
Smooth, ruffled at the edges, spider-like, star-shaped or triangular, blooms range from blazing yellow to soft lemon. There are orange shades along with golds, corals, purples, creams and reds, and some lily blooms show off two, even three colors at a time.
Paradise and Hoffman both said a green thumb is not necessary; the plants in their gardens thrive and prosper with fertilizer and a little love. The blooms that gently move with the breeze return that love with sheer beauty.
Reach Jan Pollack at jpollack@yourjournal.com.
And for those of us with black thumbs . . .
No more excuses. David Hoffman and Kraig Paradise say you don't have to have a green thumb to grow wildflowers or daylilies. They provided these tips for the more anxious gardeners among us.
* Mulch or fertilize organically.
* Water carefully. Do not overwater. Do not neglect. Weed.
* Talk to the plants - use positive energy.
* Both wildflowers and lilies love the sun.
* Getting a lily from a nursery? Plant it at the same depth as it was potted.
* Hoffman "deadheads" by removing flowers the day after they've bloomed.
* Plant in early spring or in September.
* Clearing the ground is made easier by covering it. (Paradise uses branch bundles or a large board.)
* Cut perennials to the ground before winter.
Editor's note: To view more pictures of the gardens, click here.
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