Dr. Steven M. Still was a loving and devoted husband, father, and grandfather and was a consummate educator, advisor, and mentor to both his graduate and undergraduate students alike. His teaching responsibilities while at Ohio State included both woody and herbaceous plant materials where he was known for showing more than 100 slides in a 50-minute lecture, his humorous plant anecdotes, and long lab walks no matter what the weather and we loved it. The stories he shared, the passion he had, and the information he presented shaped the way many of us view the world of plants and the environments they inhabit. His class field trips took us the best production facilities across Ohio and introduced us to leaders in the industry. He served as the faculty advisor for the Landscape and Floriculture Forum (LAFF the undergraduate horticulture club). For years, he traveled with the students in LAFF to see many of the nation’s best arboretums. He was an accomplished photographer and taught us sometimes the best way to capture a flower at its finest is to get down to its level even if that means laying down on the ground. He authored the Manual of Herbaceous Ornamental Plants, the textbook on all things herbaceous and the companion to Dr. Michael Dirr’s Manual of Woody Landscape Plants. Friends and traveling companions, together they visited public gardens and private landscapes across the county and around the world studying, photographing, and celebrating plants of all types.
He was the first director of the Chadwick Arboretum and created a living classroom and laboratory. Many of the foundational specimen trees in the Chadwick arboretum collection were planted under his guidance. He viewed the entire campus as an extension of the arboretum and relished when facilities and grounds would add a new tree or shrub anywhere on campus.
In 1983, he co-hosted the first gathering of professionals interested in herbaceous plants. By 1984, this group of passionate plant people had coalesced into the Perennial Plant Association and Steve served as the executive director for nearly 35 years.
We are truly fortunate to have had the opportunity to know, learn from, and work with such a wonderful individual.
