Camas Plant & Garden Fair: Celebrates 25 Years, Coming May 11

Camas, WA —The 25^th annual Camas Plant & Garden Fair returns to Downtown Camas on Saturday, May 11th from 9am-4pm. Local nurseries, growers, and garden artists will line the streets, offering a diverse array of fruiting trees, vegetable starts, herbs, flowers, garden art and furniture, planters, birdhouses and feeders, pottery, metal art, hanging baskets, stone art, sculptures and more. This event, organized by the Downtown Camas Association (DCA), offers family friendly fun and shopping in the heart of the charming and historic Downtown Camas.

Fan favorite returning vendors promise shoppers a vast selection of plants and garden products. Shoppers looking for dahlia tubers and growing advice should checkout Sweet Bloom Farms from Battle Ground. Anyone interested in adding some whimsical touches to their garden may want to see the birdhouses and colorful garden art fromOne Little Blackbird. Event goers looking for a major landscape overall can find all the ornamental trees and hardy perennials they need at Alicia’s Nursery, as well as the colorful annuals from Arai Nursery. Prairie & Fern Farm will be returning for their second year with a selection of dried flower arrangements and plant starts, grown in Camas.

The 25th year of the Camas Plant & Garden Fair features over fifteen new vendors bringing new and hard to find offerings to the event. Three not-to-miss vendors are Blue Gem Bakery, Bell Flower Farm, and Rhythm Seed Farm.  

Blue Gem Baking Co. – This woman owned micro-business features artisanal cookies and cupcakes, in plant and garden themed designs. Owner Mikenzie Drew was also a vendor at the Camas Farmer’ Market where she gained a following for her intricate piping work and fun themed items.

Belle Flower Farm– Vancouver resident Pam Richey Curtis will bring her curated selection of vintage vessels planted with homegrown succulents, as well as an array of gardening books, vintage tools and patio styling items. Curtis has been a favorite Camas Vintage & Art Fair Vendor since 2022. She also offers seasonal bouquet subscriptions with locally grown blooms.

Rhythm Seed Farm – This unique 501c3 nonprofit was born during the Covid era seed shortages of 2020. Founder Nick Canino had been growing hundreds of pounds of food in his yard for many years. He pivoted from food production to seed breeding and has now produced millions of seeds from over 50 different crops. With a commitment to donate half the seeds they produce, they have now given 3,000 seed packets to BIPOC and low income families in the Portland Metro area. Nick will be bringing his wide variety of hand harvested seeds, as well as rare native plant starts.

The fair will feature nearly 20 designated vendor experts available for shoppers to consult on plants, effective gardening techniques, and related topics. Look for the “yellow sun” signs indicating expert booth locations. The full list of Plant Fair Experts and vendors is available at www.cwplantfair.org/vendors. Visit the DCA info booth at 4th & Cedar during the fair to pick up the Expert List and booth locations. Expert topics include:

• Attracting pollinators
• Attracting birds
• Annuals
• Carnivorous plants
• Container gardening
• Composting
• Dahlias
• Deep Mulch Dry Farming
• Evergreens
• Fuchsias
• Fruit Trees
• Herbs
• Houseplants
• Japanese maples
• Landscaping and Garden Styling
• Lavender
• Olla Watering Systems
• Organic Gardening
• Perennials
• PNW native plants
• Rhododendrons
• Roses
• Seed Saving and Gathering
• Succulents
• Tomatoes
• Transplanting

“We’re so excited to bring you the 25^th year of the Camas Plant & Garden Fair!” says Jan Carter, of the DCA. “It takes a village to host an event of this size. We are so appreciative of all of our plant and garden art vendors, our dedicated volunteers, and of course all of the shoppers that come together for this pre-Mother’s Day plant and garden extravaganza! There’s truly something for everyone, and we can’t wait to keep bringing the Camas Plant and Garden Fair to Downtown Camas each Spring for years to come!”

The Kids’ Zone, open from 10am-3pm on Dallas Street between 3^rd and 4^th Avenues, will offer free activities for children and families including the beloved hands-on rubber duckie flume from the Camas-Washougal Rotary, an obstacle course from My Gym, a planting and sensory station from Camas Washougal Parent Co-Op Preschool, and a take home seed sprouting activity hosted by the Camas Farmer’s Market. This area will also feature a free petting zoo with goats, bunnies, and more, hosted by the 4-Seasons 4-H Club. Many event sponsors will also be hosting activities for kids at their booths.  Children and theater lovers will enjoy Rhys Thomas who is returning with his Strolling Jugglemania Show including a giant rose puppet, themed juggling, performances on stilts and other activities.

Live music at 4^th & Cedar will include Bret Malmquist playing acoustic jazz guitar from 10am-12pm and local singer songwriter Brenna Larsen performing from 12-3pm.

Scout troop #565 will be on hand with their trusty wagons to help citizens transport their purchases as needed. Donations welcomed.

The DCA will host the annual “Wheelbarrow Raffle Prize Drawing” with a large assortment of plants, trees, flowers, and garden art generously donated by fair vendors in a sturdy wheelbarrow donated by Lutz Hardware as well as a “Downtown Gift Card Raffle”. The items will be on display and tickets can be purchased at the DCA table on the corner of 4^th and Cedar on the day of the event. The winner will be drawn at 3:00pm.

The DCA thanks the generous sponsors of this event which include our Signature Sponsor Waste Connections of Washington-Clark County, as well as Partner Sponsors Edward Jones, Robert Barber;  Clover Podiatry; NW Natural; tsmc Washington, Papermaker Pride; Renewal by Andersen; Hampton Inn and Suites; Lendor Home Solutions/Gutter Helmet, State Farm; Cascade Hasson Sotheby’s International Realty, Minuteman Press; and our Community Sponsors NW Natural, Blossom Natural Health and Wellness; Dr. Jared Bowyer, DDS; City of Camas and 4 Seasons 4H.

The DCA is a 501c3 nonprofit Main Street Program and works year round to strengthen and promote Downtown Camas through partnerships, events, beautification and historic preservation projects, economic development, advocacy, and tourism functions. For more information on the Plant Fair, see www.cwplantfair.org or www.fb.com/CamasPlantAndGardenFair. For information on the DCA and other downtown events and initiatives, visit www.downtowncamas.com.