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STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Every spring, for the past decade, a magical landscape sprouts in Huguenot.
A floral display spelling out "Oz" is currently in full bloom on the grassy knoll along the edge of the New Jersey-bound Korean War Veterans Parkway just past the Huguenot Avenue overpass.
It isn't the result of a wand waved by Glinda the Good Witch.
Rather, green-thumbed Firefighter John Marks, assigned to nearby Engine Co. 164 and Ladder Co. 84, situated on Drumgoole Road West, has toiled for hours to beautify the embankment.
"I worked for five years with the Parks Department before joining the Fire Department," revealed the 45-year-old Marks, who grew up in Great Kills and now lives in upstate Orange County. "The reason I do it is just for sheer enjoyment."
The 17-and-a-half-year FDNY veteran makes time between shifts at the firehouse to clear the thorny brush and wayward tree saplings that threaten to overtake what he's planted.
About 10 days ago, the fruits of his labor burst forth from the ground in the form of 500 yellow and white daffodils.
The idea for the display took root in 1998, when now-retired FDNY Capt. Richard Persichetty and the men of the firehouse were awarded a prize by the Lynne Robbins Steinman Foundation's Beautiful Staten Island Awards Program for transforming a large vacant tract of land into a garden.
The foundation presented Persichetty, an avid gardener, and his men with daffodil bulbs to create another public display. They chose to plant the bulbs near the hilly grass abutting the parkway, a short walk from the firehouse.
"We did it for the beautification of Staten Island," said Persichetty, an Annadale resident who retired in 2005. He's gratified that Marks has kept the gardening tradition alive. "It's only in bloom a short time, so you gotta catch it, but it's beautiful to see."
But just what does the word "Oz" signify?
Marks revealed that "Oz" was chosen as the firehouse's nickname because Persichetty was known among his men as "The Wizard of Oz" because of his knack for finding the best in people, similar to the character in the famous 1939 Judy Garland flick.
The name also refers to the firehouse's isolated location and proximity to New Jersey.
"Close to the edge," is its apropos motto.
Now, with Persichetty and the other firefighters who originally took part retired, Marks is the last man planting.
But he doesn't mind.
"I have to do it, because if I don't everyone gets on my case looking for the flowers," he jokes, as he surveys the display.
"Someday I'll turn it over to somebody myself."
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