Chapman’s Greenhouse celebrates 40th anniversary

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Chapman’s Greenhouse near Brush Prairie is celebrating its 40th anniversary.

The greenhouse was opened by Olivia Chapman and her husband Ralph in 1982.

Chapman said she started the business after she retired from a career selling chickens. 

“We started when we moved here and we had a bunch of chicken houses,” said Chapman. “We got out of the chicken business and had empty houses sitting, and my husband said, ‘we should start doing tomatoes,’ so basically, we just started doing tomatoes.”

Chapman said the couple grew up in Ridgefield, but lived in Spokane and in California for a period of time because of her husband’s job as a retread plant manager in the tire industry. They then came to Vancouver where Chapman’s Greenhouse began. 

Chapman is still devising a way to commemorate the business’ 40th anniversary. 

Chapman’s is unique, the owner said, because the items they feature are locally grown. Chapman noted most of the plants come from unrooted cuttings or seeds and there’s no middleman involved in the process. 

All the production is done in the back portion of the property.

Some of the most popular items they sell include basket fillers for gardeners who want to make their own flower baskets and patio pots, as well as bedding plants and vegetables. Some of the bedding plants include marigolds, salvias, petunias and “premium annuals,” like bacopa, said Chapman.

“(Common bedding plants) are like a Volkswagen, they’re going to get you there,” Chapman said. “The vegetative ones (or premium annuals) are more like Cadillacs. They both do the same thing for you, like seed geraniums versus zonal geraniums.”

As for vegetables, she mostly grows tomatoes and features over 50 varieties. There’s also over 50 varieties of peppers, as well as zucchini, lettuce, cauliflower, and broccoli. Early Girl tomatoes are the most common variety people seek out, she said. 



“For people starting their own greenhouses, they like to get those bigger ones that take longer to mature and produce, so they like to get the starts here,” Chapman said. 

Other varieties include Parks Whopper, Big Zac, and the Beefmaster.

Chapman said the pandemic resulted in an increase in business, which has made it hard to keep up with the demand. 

“Everybody has to stay home,” Chapman said. “Or at least they feel like they do, and they want to work in their yard, and that’s what they’ve been doing, so they’ve been buying more to put in their yard. We’ve also had more people moving into the area. Every year we get new people.”

The greenhouse’s workers are an important aspect of the business, Chapman said. Many of the employees have worked at the greenhouse for eight or nine years and are also gardeners themselves. 

“Everybody likes to garden,” Chapman said of her employees. “Some of them may be younger and not have as much experience, but they still like plants and they learn fast. We have the same sales people this year as we have for the past four or five years.”

The 40th anniversary of the greenhouse will take place on March 20, the same day it will reopen for the season. 

Chapman’s Greenhouse is located at 14002 NE 117th Ave., Vancouver.