Elissa Steeves' Garden

Nurturing a garden for decades takes strong dedication, but for Elissa Steeves, it’s almost second nature. As a child, a love for native plants was sparked early. This love continued into influencing her career path, leading her to teaching horticulture. 

“I was an only child and my mother always sent me off to camp for socialization and I just fell in love with native plants.”

From Elissa’s perspective, plants take on a vital cultural role because of how we interact with and use them in our daily lives. 

“Plants are a portal to history, language, medicine, just you name it, because a plant’s at the bottom of it.”

One of her favorite parts about gardening is the ever changing nature of plants. It allows her to be flexible and creative with the process, so there’s never a dull moment. 

“That's the other nice thing about plants is you can have an affair with them for a few years or a season or forever, or you can just move on. You don't have to be monogamous with plants. It's just wonderful.”

A film by Josh Wingard. 

Produced by Kendahl Huber.