Hostas Thrive in President of Garden Society's Backyard

Elaine Fix, president of the Fleur de Lis Garden Society of , has gardened most of her life. At her last home in Webster Groves, she tended to a raised-bed vegetable garden with tomatoes, zucchini, watermelon, peas and green beans.

Now she calls Troy home and lives on a three-acre plot of land with her husband, Tom.

Fix’s favorite plant is the hosta. In the dappled shade of trees, 287 varieties of hostas thrive in a botanical garden-like setting covering one acre.

Other flower beds include peonies, ground cover, a grafted Korean lilac tree, and a combination iris and day lily garden. Throughout, shade perennials are scattered in the garden framing the pathways.

Salmon-pink and purple poppies, periwinkle spiderwort, violet Mr. President clematis and yellow Louisiana Iris lure one to linger in the ambience of the lush grounds.  Garden fairies, perched atop tree stumps, add to the retreat’s peacefulness.

To maintain a beautiful garden, an irrigation system near the end of the hosta bed (500 feet of pvc) is complete with shut-off valves connected to soaker hoses, snaking in and out of the woods.

Fix spends the first four hours of the day grooming and weeding.

“You gotta have them neat and tidy,” Fix says.

Her hosta “Liberty” won the Horticultural Excellence Award last year at the Mid-Central District Flower Show. 

Stainless steel labels from Kincaid Gardens in Savannah, MO, aid in the identification of hundreds of plants and flowers for visitors. 

After a collection of hostas were nicely established and the couple became members of the St. Louis Hosta Society, their house was selected for a garden tour. 

Fix said she “really wanted it to look nice,” so they watered a lot. Much to her surprise two gentlemen from the water department showed up at her doorstep and asked if there was a leak. The couple used 216,000 gallons of water in one month attributed to soaker hoses—their water bill was $700. 

A decision was made to drill for a well, which served as a solution to the high water bills, and fed their passion for gardening.  

Fix has been President of Fleur de Lis Garden Society, St. Charles, for a total of four years, off and on, since 2007.  The group meets at 6:30 p.m. the first Tuesday of each month at at Kisker Road Library in St. Charles. She also creates the yearbook and updates their website.

Community service projects include garden therapy with older adults, a “Bluebird Trail” in St. Charles County Parks, Adopt a Road (Kisker Road Litter Control), a hand-watered “Plant it Pink” container at Progress West Healthcare promoting breast cancer awareness, and restoration of a wildflower garden at , among others. 

The society will soon begin fundraising from a booth at the . Raffle tickets for “Nan,” a clay-pot doll and Nan’s children will be available for purchase; with a September 1 drawing.

Fix finds inspiration in watching plants grow and bloom, and caring for them. 

She says, “I can’t imagine my life without plants.” 

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