Rae Selling Berry

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

Early life Berry, the daughter of Ben Selling and Mathilda Hess, grew up in Portland, Oregon. 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.

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".

Berry continued to expand her collection past the age of 80, taking field trips in search of Oregon's only primrose, Primula cusickiana (Cusick's primrose). At age 90, she was still planting seeds in the gardens, and died at home at age 96.