[1] She was educated at SCECGS Redlands, Cremorne, where she was taught by the English teacher, Constance Le Plastrier (1864–1938), who was a member of the Naturalists Society of New South Wales and co-author of Botany for Australian Students (1916), and helped foster Harris' interest in native plants.
[1][4] Harris later featured her efforts to revegetate the mine-workings at the Central Mine of the Sulphide Corporation in her book Australian Plants for the Garden (1953).
[5] According to John Walter, her interest in Australian plants was also developed when she met Albert Morris (1886-1939) while she taught at the school in Broken Hill between 1929 and 1930.
[3] Harris was a member of the Australian Institute of Landscape Architects and she served as President and Honorary Secretary of the Wildlife Preservation Society of Australia.
[5] In 1963 Harris established the 50 ha Wirrimbirra Sanctuary at Bargo, New South Wales, in memory of her late husband, who had died in 1957.