A Garden in the Woods of Maine – Cassie Banning

The recently published book, The Rockefeller Family Gardens: An American Legacy features the Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Garden. The garden was developed by John D. Rockefeller Jr. and Abby Aldrich Rockefeller in partnership with the celebrated landscape gardener Beatrix Farrand. Cassie will dive deeply into the garden design development, traditions and the future of this iconic garden in Seal Harbor, Maine.

Cassie Banning, Abby Garden & McAlpin Farm Manager

Cassie is the Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Garden and McAlpin Farm Manager for the Land and Garden Preserve in Seal Harbor, Maine. Since 2013, she has been responsible for thirty acres of natural lands, the historic, walled Abby Garden, as well as the historic Playhouse and Eyrie Terrace. This property was the summer estate of John D. Rockefeller, Jr. and Abby Aldrich Rockefeller. McAlpin Farm and greenhouse complex has six thousand square feet of indoor growing space and a one-acre fenced outdoor growing space.

Cassie moved to Maine from the clay soils of Indiana where for nine years she was the Horticulture Manager at Minnetrista, a museum in East Central Indiana. There she developed and maintained four-season gardens that provided inspiration and examples to the home gardener. Her training began in geology at the University of Montana and shifted to horticulture. She attended the School of Professional Horticulture at the New York Botanical Garden and received her B.S. in horticulture from Cornell University. She interned with the Mendocino Coast Botanical Garden in Fort Bragg, CA and the Lyon Arboretum in Honolulu, HI. She is one of the authors of the book, The Rockefeller Family Gardens: An American Legacy.