it's probably cheaper to grow cocos and majesties in florida and ship them to the northeast than to grow the "ugly" cold-hardy plants to a sale-able size

I empathize.....It is CHEAPER to grow Majesty's and Coconuts into a saleable pot plant for Lowe's to sell. I live in Tampa Bay, and these palms are not hardy here - yet Lowe's has 'em. The last visit saw 75% Coconuts, Spindles, Foxtails and Adonidias. All will freeze dead, even here. It may not happen next winter, but they will die. It does P@SS me off, too, as I'd like to plant hardier p;alms in my yard, but they're difficult to find even for me...other than Washingtons, Queens, Roebellinis and Canaries (when they show up)...Greg in New Port Richey FL zone 9b

Here's my suggestion: Why don't we start an email campaign and back Josh up on this? One or two notes from a couple pis@ed customers won't get a lot of attention, but several dozen might!

I honestly don't understand their bias against cold-hardy palms either. And Lowe's is not the only ones who are guilty. Pike Nursery is another big chain that will carry every palm under the sun.......except those that will survive a Georgia winter. I still have the first foxtail palm I ever got from them, which is nearly as tall as me now. But why not carry some windmill, sabal or needle palms? At least I could leave those outside year 'round.

I guess it's all about the almighty dollar...all the big chain stores will only stock what they know will make a profit. As for gregsytch and xerophyte's comments about the coconuts...I wouldn't think those would be that cheap to produce. Not only do they take a long time to germinate, you have that huge seed which would increase shipping costs. Seems like it would be more cost-effective for Lowe's and the others to stock smaller palms like trachys and windmills.

maybe they think that customers will keep buying them every year after they die, like annuals? If you bought a hardy plant, you wouldn't return for another..

Around here there is a fair amount of people who buy majesties for big pots with flowers around them, and then throw them out after the summer

Thanks for listening guys. I appreciate the feedback and yes I understand its all about money. So heres my plan and please dont call me a hypocrite. I went back to Lowes and "rescued" the little guy.(Pic below) This fall my basement is being converted into an indoor greenhouse. It has 8ft celings. How long will it take to bust through my celing? I'll sell it to anyone who can care for it as soon as it gets too big. I will sell it for the cost of shipping only or if someone would like to pick it up they can have it for free. As long as they can keep it alive in zone 10 or a very tall greenhouse. I'll keep everyone posted.
{{gwi:1123943}}

That's actually not a bad deal for that size of a coco palm. True they make terrible indoor palms (unless your name is Andy and you live in Michigan), but I recently paid $36 for a tad larger coco palm down in Florida. I also think Lowe's has a "1 year guarantee" on all plants for all of their locations. So if the little guy dies within a year from purchase, just bring it back for a complimentary replacement.

Still, I agree it's not fair for the palm to be THAT far out of the zone, but what else can you expect from a nationwide chain such as Lowe's? Cash is king for them, it's the real local nurseries that actually give a damn about the customers and the palms that stand a fighting chance.

Its all about money.

I usually buy alot of my palms at Lowes, The Lowe's in Albuquerque sells a few windmills,Canary Island Date Palms,Mexican Fans,Sagos,European Fan Palms and the other house palms,I bought a 15 gal.Mexican Fan for $90 and a 15 gal.European Fan Palm for $75.

Thats great but im not anywhere near Albuquerque.

I see all these new homes going up in my area with vaulted ceilings or even 2 story living rooms with huge windows. A coconut palm could be long term grower even in cold climates under such conditions. Move them outside in summer.

I saw coconut palms like the one Josh posted a pic of for $19 at Lowes. Also 3 trunk Pygmy Date palms for $36.

Doug

Actually, coconuts are terribly cheap to produce, and in SoFla they get so much heat, they thrive and grow very fast. The seeds fall off mature plants constantly. They even grow well here in Tampa Bay, but of course, one winter will come and they're gone. It's that one night that does it. I would love to convince HD and the "L" place to grow hardier stuff, but Windmills and others are slower to produce. The nurseries in SoFla can produce a Foxtail so fast and get them to Lowe's at a cheap price, that is what they dop. Why else does Lowe's and HD sell Petunias in May in Florida? 'cuz they're cheap and quick. It's a shame...keep me posted!!!!!!!!Greg where its 90f+ humid, hot sunny and DRY as usual..

I'm just curious as to why you emailed their Corp. Offices???

Duhhhh, they're in business to make money, and if they're missing an opportunity to liberate you from more of the green stuff, they want to know...LOL. My Lowes will contact their local suppliers to check to see if they have what I want & will include it with their next scheduled delivery to the store; they call you when it comes in.

If the nursery staff won't help you, I'd go straight to the General Manager of the store or the District Manager....not to ANY company's Corporate Offices.

Good luck.

scaldude

I did speak with the manager before I e-mailed them. She told me that they had nothing to do with the ordering and that all orders come from corp. I never expected them to do anything about it. As you can see from my original post I can get really mean when I b#@ch about something. Trust me the e-mail was really nasty. I just needed to vent. Thats great that you get them to order stuff for you but here in good old Pennsyltucky I dont think the manager could tell her own A$$ from a palm tree.LOL!

Here's some PA humor for you.What do you get when you put 4 Lowe's employees together???

3 teeth! HA! HA! HA!

"I did speak with the manager before I e-mailed them. She told me that they had nothing to do with the ordering and that all orders come from corp."

I think the manager just handed you a line of B.S. How the heck would corporate know what to send to that store unless the store files a usage and sales report, showing what items have the highest sales and lowest inventory? I've worked for more than 26 years with Solo Cup, so I do know a little about corporate and regional sales and ordering. What she told you just sounds like an absolute crock.

Still, there doesn't seem to be any rational explanation as to why Lowe's (or any other business for that matter) would be trying to push coconuts in a solid zone 6 area. Unless they're trying to sell them as 'novelty plants'.

I totally agree with wingo.
I hope your email shakes things up, Josh. Lowes obviously needs a management change there.

the only way to change what a lorg corp sells is if they think its profitable to do so you could try a petition and see if they will listen BUT by far the best option is to support independant growers who have some idea what they are selling. help the little guys and stop the march of the big corps before all you can buy are Coconuts, Spindles, Foxtails and Adonidias, how often have lowes introduced a new cultivar or had a few of something really special. here in the UK we have a lot of tropical specialist nurseries (well maybe only 20 but we are a small country)all of which are having to try and compete with our big chain stores B&Q,Homebase, tesco. they might not beat them on price BUT they do offer a vast selection of plants of far superior quality with the knowledge to help you grow the plant you have bought.
Steve

Hey Josh

I live in State College and I know exactly what you are talking about. I talked to our local Lowes about getting some hardys in. I was told they would check on the availablity. So far all the new ones have been Cocos, Majestys, Cats and Livistonias. Although, last fall they did have 2 gallon Robustas for sale. I got 2 for $5.00.

I'm sure a stiff at corporate (and honesty any of hte big box store "certified nursery specialist") would have only heard "PALM" and not "COLD HARDY PALM" in your inquiry, whether it verbal or written.

The big box stores contract nurseries for en masse growth of a certain list of plants. They can get other plants only if those contract growers also grow other things (such as Morningstar Nursery).

Lowes, Home Depot are set up by region. So, from a horticultural standpoint, here in South Florida, we are considered no different than Atlanta most of the time, and occasionally Jacksonville, FL. We see annuals, etc that are timed perfectly for the Deep South/Gulf COast or Mid-South, but about 2 months late in zone 10. Alternatively, Florida may have some sort of sub-regional nursery contract, as you can see certain palms across the state (but as already mentioned, they don't differentiate between plants appropriate for Miami and those that won't survive in Tampa or Orlando or Gainesville.

To make headways, I think at a minimum you need to befriend a nursery manager at the big box and then give him specific names (with botanical name) of palms you are seeking, and then ask him to see if he can get any thrown on a shipment since it is warm all across the continent. You may be SOL, but also try it with the interior houseplant sections and other nurseries with access to interior plants. They may have a better distributor and supply list.

I feel it's just people in positions that have never heard or had experience with plants not hardy to the region, so they have no reason to risk $$ in the inventory when they haven't a clue.

On a similar note, you cannot get dahlias in peninsular Florida at the right time. Plant them here in late fall, but trying to get specialty dahlia growers to be amenable to selling tubers right after they pull them out of their fields in October has been fruitless. Even the growers in Oregon can't understand we need tubers right off hte truck before they store in sawdust in cellars. They say the first they can possible ship out is in mid-March. Not ideal for us.

I digress. Honestly, who cares about the 7 million in south Florida when they cater to the 293 million elsewhere.

Cold hardy palms are available to be ordered and its the nursery specialist that does the ordering not the manager. Palms are sold through corporate as a house plant not a landscaping plant, if you would like to have them ordered all you have to do is talk to the nursery specialist (there is only one). A nursery specialist is not every associate that works in the garden center it is the person that knows about plants and deals with the ordering, clearancing, and care.

Also Lowe's works with the larger plant vendors, that are the same suppliers to many of the smaller greenhouses. It is on their availablity however they are usually pricy and if the customers aren't willing to buy them or have space for them they won't go out of their way to order them.

Instead of trashing them talk to your local store, corporate doesn't really do that much for orders into the local stores, it is controlled at a local level for the most part (in the garden center).

Zero stars if possible. Time and time again this Lowe's in Hillsboro is the worst. I checked out the ad last night and saw 2/$10 2.5 qt plants for sale. Needed to go there to check something else out anyway. It's starts with asking for a shopping cart, and the lady in garden said, "You'll have to go to the front of the store!" What store doesn't have some carts in the garden section! Not flat carts, regular shopping carts. I should have walked out then, but being patient as I am, I went all the way to the front of the store and got a cart. Spent about 45 mins of my precious time to have the older but nice lady ring up the plants. Now none were marked, expect this one table 2/$10. When I went to check out, I tried to explain to her the issue, BUT NO she had to tell me how she WAS going to do it. Okay, make it harder on yourself. She rings up my ten plants and tells me the total, I explained and got on the app and showed her the ad. She proceed to say, after I said, "There's a sign 2/10" over there. She didn't even walk ten feet to check it out. Her comment was SO those signs were put there LAST WED. Okay, and how is this my fault? I tried to explain the AD again, and she said, "I can't give them to you if there aren't ringing up that price!" I was done trying to communicate with her and said, "Fine, I don't want any of them!" As I walked to my car, I decided to go talk with a manager. I was at customer service and asked for a manager. Okay, this whole time I'm calm and not yelling or being rude but boy, this Lowe's can push the right person to become that rude person. The guy behind the counter says, "Oh, he doesn't come in until later!" And then NOTHING! I said, "Are you telling me there is NO one in charge!" He said, "Oh, there's a lower level manager!" Again, Silence! Okay, so call him?? When Scott answers, the guy says, "Hi Scott, are you on break, or busy?" Never told him a customer wanted to speak to him. So the kid hangs up after Scott or Scotty says, "I'm in lumber filling an order!" I turned and walked out again. Before I drove off after being a witness to pure non-trained employees. Sure, times are rough right now-but this happens at this Lowes over and over! Got to blame management for lack of customer training. OR, lack of motivation for employees to find a solution?

Scotty gets on the phone, nice guy, but what else can he say but sorry and thank you! Needless to say, this Lowe's loss over $50,000 on a kitchen remodel for these same reasons a couple of months ago. But hey, I was just getting plants this time, that were in an AD-what could go wrong. A waste of my time.

Scotty offered no solution but to say he'll go to the Garden Department and find out what's going on. This is after I said, "I'm in the parking!" Then I said, "Well, I'm going to Home Depot. Guess what, I got more of the same plants for less money, in better pots than what I would have gotten or spent at Lowe's. I won! But next time, I'm hopping on the freeway and going to Tigard since I live in Beaverton. Thank goodness Home Depot is there!

I have to blame management for lack of knowledge or training to their employees. Don't doubt that Lowe's managers train them NOT to call management. How come no one at Lowe's answers the phone, yet four people were standing around chatting in Customer Service???????

Not surprised about all the negative reviews at this Lowe's!