Rae Selling Berry (January 21, 1881 – October 9, 1976) was an American gardener and

horticulturist Horticulture (from ) is the art and science of growing fruits, vegetables, flowers, trees, shrubs and ornamental plants. Horticulture is commonly associated with the more professional and technical aspects of plant cultivation on a smaller and mo ...

Early life

Berry, the daughter of

Ben Selling Ben Selling (1852 or April 29, 1853 – 1931) was a businessman, philanthropist, civil rights advocate, and politician in Portland, Oregon, United States. He was a noted leader in the Jewish community, and he owned a clothing store in downtown Po ...

and Mathilda Hess, grew up in

Portland Portland most commonly refers to: *Portland, Oregon, the most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon *Portland, Maine, the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maine *Isle of Portland, a tied island in the English Channel Portland may also r ...

Oregon Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...

. Her father was a philanthropist, politician, and well-known civic leader in Portland's Jewish community. She began to lose her hearing at a young age, and learned to lip read in order to understand the people around her. In 1899, she went on a world tour. She married Alfred C. Urmston Berry on December 17, 1901. He was a contractor who became the superintendent of the

Portland International Airport Portland International Airport is a joint civil–military airport and the largest airport in the U.S. state of Oregon, accounting for 90% of the state's passenger air travel and more than 95% of its air cargo. It is within Portland's city li ...

Career

For more than thirty years, the couple and their three children lived in northeast Portland's Irvington neighborhood, where Berry developed an interest in plants. Reading about plant expeditions to Europe and Asia, she began to provide financial support for the expeditions and through them to obtain seeds.

The Oregonian ''The Oregonian'' is a daily newspaper based in Portland, Oregon, United States, owned by Advance Publications. It is the oldest continuously published newspaper on the West Coast of the United States, U.S. West Coast, founded as a weekly by Tho ...

profiled her garden in 1922 and noted her extensive collection of at least nine primrose species. Many of Berry's primroses were grown from seeds imported from

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. By the mid-1930s, Berry had run out of room for her plants in Irvington, and the couple moved to "a bowl-shaped site nestled near the top of a hill". The property,

Berry Botanic Garden Berry Botanic Garden was a botanical garden in southwest Portland, Oregon, in the United States. In addition to large collections of alpine plants, rhododendrons, primulas, and lilies, it was known for its plant-conservation program and its large ...

, just north of

Lake Oswego Lake Oswego ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Oregon, primarily in Clackamas County, Oregon, Clackamas County, with small portions extending into neighboring Multnomah County, Oregon, Multnomah and Washington County, Oregon, Washington counties ...

, included a variety of habitats and terrain, and was partly covered with second-growth

Douglas fir The Douglas fir (''Pseudotsuga menziesii'') is an evergreen conifer species in the pine family, Pinaceae. It is the tallest tree in the Pinaceae family. It is native to western North America and is also known as Douglas-fir, Douglas spruce, Or ...

. In developing the garden, Berry focused on "exceptional plants", particularly ''

rhododendron ''Rhododendron'' (; : ''rhododendra'') is a very large genus of about 1,024 species of woody plants in the Ericaceae, heath family (Ericaceae). They can be either evergreen or deciduous. Most species are native to eastern Asia and the Himalayan ...

s'', ''

primula ''Primula'' () is a genus of herbaceous plant, herbaceous flowering plants in the family (biology), family Primulaceae. They include the primrose (''Primula vulgaris, P. vulgaris''), a familiar wildflower of banks and verges. Other common specie ...

s'', and

alpines Alpines is a British duo based in Kingston upon Thames in South London, made up of Bob Matthews (guitar and production) and Catherine Pockson (pianist, singer and songwriter). Since forming in 2010, the band has toured and supported The Naked ...

. In 1964, the

Garden Club of America The Garden Club of America is a nonprofit organization made up of around 18,000 club members and 200 local garden clubs around the United States. Founded in 1913, by Elizabeth Price Martin and Ernestine Abercrombie Goodman, it promotes the recordi ...

awarded her the Florens DeBevoise Medal for her knowledge of plants. In 1965, she won the

American Rhododendron Society The American Rhododendron Society (ARS) is a non-profit organization whose mission is to encourage interest in, and disseminate information about, the genus ''Rhododendron''. Members' experience ranges from novice to expert. The society provides a ...

's first Award of Excellence given to a woman, and she was honored for her work by the American Rock Garden Society. Berry continued to expand her collection past the age of 80, taking field trips in search of Oregon's only primrose, ''

Primula cusickiana ''Primula'' () is a genus of herbaceous flowering plants in the family Primulaceae. They include the primrose ('' P. vulgaris''), a familiar wildflower of banks and verges. Other common species are '' P. auricula'' (auricula), '' P. veris'' (cow ...

'' (Cusick's primrose). At age 90, she was still planting seeds in the gardens, and died at home at age 96.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Berry, Rae Selling 1881 births 1976 deaths American gardeners American horticulturists Irvington, Portland, Oregon American women founders American founders Women horticulturists and gardeners 20th-century American women scientists Scientists from Portland, Oregon

Early life

Career

See also

References