Alan Branhagen

Alan J. Branhagen is Director of Operations at the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum since 2017. For over
20 years he was Director of Horticulture at Powell Gardens, Kansas City’s Botanical Garden and prior to
that he had a nearly decade-long duty as Deputy Director of Resource Development for the Winnebago
County Forest Preserve District in Rockford, Illinois. Alan Branhagen received his Bachelor of Landscape
Architecture from Iowa State University and a Master of Landscape Architecture from Louisiana State
University with emphasis on design with nature. He wrote The Gardener’s Butterfly Book in 2001 and in
November 2016, Timber Press published his book Native Plants of the Midwest. The Midwest Native
Plant Primer: 225 Plants for an Earth-friendly Garden was released in July, 2020. Beyond public garden
management, Mr. Branhagen is an all-around plantsman and naturalist specializing in birds, butterflies
and botany. He is in process of creating a new natural garden on 2.4 acres overlooking the Minnesota
River Valley in Chaska, Minnesota.