Born Ella Lawton Grant, she was the daughter of Gilbert Grant and Susan Lawton. She developed an interest in horticulture at a young age and, as a young woman, worked at Harris Jayne's greenhouse located at what is today East 80th Street and Euclid Avenue. She started her own florist business in the 1870s and owned a greenhouse on Jennings Avenue (West 14th Street) near Rowley Avenue. She became one of the most successful florists in Cleveland, providing flower arrangements and decorations to Cleveland's elite living on grand Euclid Avenue in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. She closed her florist business in 1909 when the disastrous tornado in April of that year destroyed her greenhouse and nearly killed her son. She later became a garden editor for the Plain Dealer and wrote two books about the rich and powerful residents of Euclid Avenue. This photo was taken in 1932 by another feminist pioneer, photographer Ethel Standiford. | Source: Cleveland Public Library, Photograph CollectionDownload Original File
