Pioneer Information
Native to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Elliott was an entrepreneurial plantsman and designer. His career began in 1882 as a florist, and by 1889 he described himself as a “hardy plant specialist.” He adopted the title of landscape architect as early as 1892, according to notices in Garden and Forest magazine, where he advertised as a horticultural buyer’s agent for US and Dutch growers throughout the 1890s. He also called himself a “horticulturalist,” as stated in his 1935 autobiography, Adventures of a Horticulturist.
Elliott’s design work was predominantly for private estates in western Pennsylvania, Ohio, Illinois (notably in Lake Forest, outside of Chicago) and as far north as Canada. In 1900 he produced the Plan for the Grounds of Lawnfield near Cleveland, Ohio, the estate of Mrs. James R. Garfield, widow of the former President.
Throughout the last decades of the 19th century, Elliott contributed to a number of publications, including Gardening magazine among others. His only topical book publication, A Plea for Hardy Plants, published in 1902 and reprinted in 1910, was not “written to teach the art of landscape gardening, but the need of it.” Richly illustrated with photographs and detailed plans, the book includes many of Elliott’s designs for flower gardens, city gardens and suburban home grounds.