Camas, cute spring flowers

Camas are beautiful bulb flowers that bloom in spring and their nice blossoms are white or blue.

Core Camas facts

Name – Camassia
Family – Liliaceae (lily family)
Type – spring bulb

Height – 20 to 28 inches (50 to 70 cm)
Exposure – full sun, part sun
Soil – ordinary

Outdoor blooming – April to June

In pots or in the ground, they are great when combined with other colors, too.

Planting camas

Camas in the ground for spring blooming

  • It is best to plant your camas in fall, 4 inches (10 cm) deep, and they will bloom in spring.
  • Plant camas bulbs about 4 inches (10 cm) deep.
  • Your camas will be much more beautiful if you grow them to form clustered spots of color.
    For that, you should plant bulbs in groups, spacing them 4 to 6 inches (10 to 15 cm) apart.
    The more, the merrier!
  • Camas like sun but must be protected from scorching. Favor part sun instead.
  • Check our advice on planting bulbs in the ground.
  • Here are also our tips to plant plant bulbs in clay and waterlogged soil.

Caring for camasA single panicle of violet-blue camassia flower against a blue background.

Camas that are planted in fall will bloom in spring. This is the normal, natural blooming cycle.

  • Cut floral scapes off when they are wilted, but keep the leaves untouched.
  • When blooming is over, cut leaves back only when they have already turned yellow, and only then. The span of time between blooming and wilting leaves is when the bulb is stocking up on nutrients for the next blooming cycle.

Learn more about camas

Close-up of a Camassia flowerCamas come in different colors depending on the variety. The most well-known are Camassia fraseri which have nice white flowers. Blue flowers are for Camassia esculenta, cusickii, Camassia quamash and  Camassia leichtlinii.

Native to the United States, they are often nicest in the wild, transforming pastures into magnificent meadows when spring comes.

Camas was used as a food source by the American Indians, who collected the bulbs to grill them or turn them to flour.

Smart tip about camas

Camas blooms year after year without any need for care.

Our tip: just forget about them, and sit back and savor their bloom every year.

Read also on the topic of bulb flowers

Credits for images shared to Nature & Garden (all edits by Gaspard Lorthiois):
Cluster of blooming camas by F. D. Richards ★ under © CC BY-SA 2.0
Camas panicle by Greg Seed ★ under Pixabay license
Small violet camas by cfarnsworth ☆ under Pixabay license