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2026 Native Plant Expo & Marketplace, an astounding success!
June 18, 2026
The Native Plant Expo & Marketplace, is a special showcase of our community's astounding commitment to our natural resources. Not only do thousands of people attend each year, Nurseries are expanding their capacities to meet the growing demand for natives to help our ecosystems thrive.
2026 was the biggest and best expo yet with over 3,050 attendees choosing to spend their day learning and investing in native landscapes, exceeding our previous max of 2,486. This included a record breaking 531 Early Bird ticket sales to folks who wanted first access from 8am-9am, before the event opened for free at 9am.
We offer a Native Plant Sale pre-order distribution for those green thumbs and Master Rain Gardeners who want to pre-order for their garden designs. We offer species in plug flats, quart pots, and some larger gallon pots from Designs By Nature nursery and WildType nursery. Over 195 orders were distributed, totaling to over 5825 plants! This sale allows for our county's gardeners to order ahead for a successful, planned garden, while also generating revenue to support the event and many staff hours required.
"This event was fantastic as always and it keeps getting better and better. I was excited to see that it was even bigger this year. Thank you for having us. I'm already looking forward to next year."- 2026 Vendor
The Expo & Marketplace barns hosted 51 vendors & exhibitors, up from 42 in 2025! This included 21 different native-plant-focused nurseries, as well as local nonprofits and government programs focused on native plants and conservation, and local businesses offering everything from native plant landscaping services to honeybee products.
The nurseries reported an estimated 14,607 plants sold collectively, totaling to sales over $110,721 for these nurseries and vendor businesses! The vendors rated the event overall as a 4.8 of 5.
Educational Speaker Stage
The fourth year of the Speaker Stage included a variety of presentations. The stage provided our vendors and exhibitors a unique opportunity to give a short TED-style talk to our attendees, and they took us up on it! With a packed schedule and varying topics, 5 speakers took the stage to educate and entertain folks.
Thanks to the volunteers who operated the WCCD Elections in Shed A.
For the first time, the Washtenaw County Conservation District held the Board of Directors elections during the Native Plant Expo & Marketplace event, in addition to offering absentee voting by mail, and early voting from our office. We continue to refined our processes for greater election integrity and voter engagement. During this event, we held our annual meeting to announce the election results: A total of 85 Washtenaw County residents voted for Shannon Brines and Jill Dohner, both uncontested, to maintain their seats on the board.
The Washtenaw County Conservation District serves our county with a high level of transparency and board oversight. Residents are welcome to attend monthly and special board meetings, and we welcome support from Associate Board Directors and committee involvement.
Thanks to our event Sponsors!
Our sponsors make it possible for this event to exist and to grow to the level it is today. With their support we were able to purchase radio spots with Michigan Radio to broadcast our event, among other event outreach and operations. We want to thank all of our sponsors again, especially the top-level sponsors:
92 dedicated, knowledgeable, and enthusiastic volunteers helped in 2026!
Volunteers rated the event highly, and we consistently hear from them how much they've learned, how fun it was, and how they feel part of something bigger. So, if you're interested...
In addition to volunteers, a huge thank you and shout out to our leadership team including, from WCWRCO & Master Rain Gardeners: Heather Rice, Susan Bryan, Catie Wytychak, Rachel Leonard, and Janice Das who we're huge help during the event. They are an indispensable group and partnership that keeps the event steering clearly, and they bring all their many skills towards improving and running the event.
The grounds manager and staff— Kirk, and Joe—are continuing to revitalize this venue to be an even more valuable asset to our communities and events. They were so helpful with the set-up and supportive of our event. Check out their full events calendar!
Can't wait to see you all next year! Happy planting...
