Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Christena Shreve-Elza. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Christena, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Can you talk to us about a project that’s meant a lot to you?

I actually have a couple meaningful projects that had a big impact on my career and my enthusiasm for garden and container design. I was working at Pike’s in the greenhouse about 15 years ago, when I noticed a customer that looked like she needed help. I approached her and we began talking. She said Southern Living was coming to her house to do a photo shoot and she needed her front porch containers done. I told her I would do them no charge because I’ve always dreamt of having my work in magazines. We selected the plant material and her home was featured in Southern Living shortly after meeting in the greenhouse. Little did I know it was Rebecca Puig from Sugarboo. We remain friends to this day and have gone on to collaborate on several other projects. Afterwards, I quit working at Pikes and started The Good Earth Designs. She was a catalyst for me to take the leap to start my own design company and is inspiring to this day. Several years ago I met a very enthusiastic bald guy at a wholesale nursery in Alpharetta. We chatted and he gave me his contact information. I didn’t hear from him for a while but out of the blue he contacted me to do a segment with him on his HGTV show. Turned out it was Chip Wade and I was featured on his show “Elbow Room” and did four huge living walls for one of his creative backyard designs. We also went on to collaborate on several cool projects and remain friends to this day as well.

Christena, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I am passionate about garden and container design and have been creating and studying design for decades. I studied Interior Design and Historic Preservation at West Virginia University and studied in England & Rhode Island where my love of gardening and the connection between interiors and exteriors became one. I love to create beautiful unique gardens that continue to develop and grow into gorgeous outside extensions of the home and I love to create plant masterpieces where the plants become art and the container becomes the canvas. Combining all of my loves together has been very rewarding and I can’t imagine not being around plants and designing with them.
I also worked in a flower shop in Elkins WV right after I graduated college with JoJo, a very talented designer that taught me so much about visual and creative design with fresh cut flowers. This is where I started making gorgeous wreaths and continue this creative outlet to this day. We are still very dear friends and I still love designing with flowers and plants of any and every kind.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

For the most part I think we should treat our lives as creative outlets for expressing ourselves. I have always been creative and enjoyed many outlets which are integral to my life and my love of living. I have always enjoyed writing and remember writing at a very young age. Now that I am older I am working on finishing my very first book called “Plants Like People” with visions and ideas for my next writing adventure. I can’t imagine not being creative, not only with my career but also my life and the passions that I have for myself, my career and my future.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

I am recently divorced after a 23 year marriage. The resilience it takes to get through the ending of a long-term relationship transformed my life and while I have been passionate about my love of design before, it now takes on a completely different meaning in my life. I know that I am blessed with passion and endless creativity so this has helped propel my confidence when it comes to resilience. There are no other options, so I am incredibly excited about these amazing opportunities. Resilience is probably another good middle name for me. I have been resilient my entire life and is has formed so much of who I am today. I don’t think I would have it any other way.

Contact Info:

• Website: The Good Earth Designs and Twin Branch Nursery
• Instagram: The Good Earth Designs
• Facebook: Christena Shreve-Elza, The Good Earth Designs and Twin Branch Nursery

Image Credits
They are my personal images