Ruthie Steffes spent summers in her grandfather’s conservation field, watching native plants and wildflowers thrive in soil built to last. The experience stuck with her.

Now the Seneca Township High School senior is heading to Joliet Junior College to study horticulture — and the Morris Area Garden Club has recognized her commitment with its $500 annual scholarship.

Steffes, 18, has a clear vision for what comes next: opening a flower shop where she can design arrangements for weddings, celebrations, and everyday moments. But she wants more than technical skill. She wants to understand the plants themselves.

“Her appreciation for horticulture matured as she got older,” the garden club wrote in announcing the award.

Steffes is already moving fast. She has enrolled in Horticulture 101 at JJC and completed floral design workshops with a local florist. She is working part-time to help cover college costs.

Her path began in her grandfather’s Conservation Reserve Program field — land set aside to grow native plants and conserve soil. That early exposure to plants and their purpose shaped what she wants to do: blend creativity with ecological understanding.

In her art classes at Seneca High, Steffes found a way to merge those interests. Design became a way to think about plants not just as materials, but as living things with their own character and needs.

The scholarship recognizes students pursuing horticulture and agricultural studies. For Steffes, it is validation of a plan that began in a summer field and is now taking root.