Rae Selling Berry Botanic Garden

In 1938, Rae Selling Berry created a garden at her home from seeds obtained from plant explorers whose expeditions took them to the Himalayas, Western China and Tibet. Mrs. Berry became an expert in alpine plants, particularly rhododendrons and primulas. She received the 1964 GCA Florens de Bevoise Medal for her remarkable knowledge of these plants and her fearlessness and success in growing a garden of unusual species. After her death in 1976, the Friends of the Berry Botanic Garden, with major support from the Portland Garden Club, purchased the five acre estate.

The 1979 Founders Fund Award provided a greenhouse for plant research and study of the special growing conditions needed for rare plants. For the next 30 years the Rae Selling Berry Botanic Garden became a leader in plant conservation. It held four major plant collections; over one hundred and forty species of mature rhododendrons numbering at least 1,500; nearly 350 species of Northwest native plants; alpine beds; and masses of primulas. Upon discovery that almost forty species in Mrs. Berry’s garden were endangered, the Seed Bank for Rare and Endangered Species of the Pacific Northwest was established. In 1985, it was a founding institution of the Center for Plant Conservation which now includes participation from thirty nine botanical institutions.

In 2010, the garden was sold and Portland State University’s division of Environmental Science & Management took over the Seed Bank. Thought to be the first of its kind, the Rae Selling Berry Seed Bank & Plant Conservation Program holds more than 18,000 accessions, packets of seed representing over 350 of the region’s most rare and vulnerable plants