I buy quite a bit at Lowe's, but their labeling can be unreliable. Today, for example, I saw a 1 gallon perennial labeled "Artemesia Powis Castle." It was variegated, pale yellow and green, rather pretty actually. However: 1) it is not Powis Castle, which is a uniform grey; 2) this artemesia is incredibly invasive, worse than mint, as I learned from planting the damn thing LAST spring. Beware.

Last week I went to HD to buy fence post and HAD to walk through the garden center. There were two buggies full of (some very healthy) plants that were about to be thrown away! I asked if I could have them. The manager said to come back in the morning around 8:00 and I could. He stated that the grower had to see them to give them credit before he could destroy them. As you can guess at 8:00 they were all gone. I was MAD! But if you get there when the grower is there and want some free plants and wear a short skirt you might have better luck than me!

Old Ginger - I believe that Artemesia might be 'Oriental Limelight.' I planted one for my parents last Spring and the one for myself this Spring. Then, last weekend, I was at my parents' place in Atlanta and noted how far this plant had spread! EGADS!

Lorax Dave:

Indeed, having looked up some info and seen a picture, I think you are right: Artemisia "Oriental Limelight"--a plant to avoid.
My point was that it has a TOTALLY different growth habit from Powis Castle. Thus, mischievous of Lowe's to mislabel it.

These people make $8/hr. Enough said! :-)

Want good advice? Go to an actual nursery...the ones who only sell plants, not paint, nails, wood, etc...

Rule #1 in my book, never let stupid people keep their money. I have taken advantage of their lack of knowledge and talked them down to $.50 on plants that just need a good watering.

Lowes Knows indeed! As a small flower farm owner and retailer, I can vouch for the fact that Lowes knows NOTHING! Home Depot and all the other big box stores...you think people who don't know their head from a hole in the ground are going to water let alone KNOW what is in front of them? You think the grower who sold out to them cares one HOOT what the label says? Ever heard of overruns and leftovers? But all of you whom are on scout for ricidulously cheap plants will continue to satisfy their thievery won't you? This incessant evil known as "Own The World" money madness won't you? What prey tell will happen when they own YOUR PAYCHECK? Real healthy plants are not sold for pennies. And ya know why? Because we who grow them have bills to pay too. Our employees have have kids to feed and clothe as well as fill cavities in their teeth. There is insurances to pay and well - dammit all...We work hard - for real long days and then we have YOU all wanting to tell us we get no paycheck at the end of it all? I just wonder...How long will you work for pennies on the hour? Truth be known - how long would you do it for? Would you think it was just peachy if your whole industry up and sacrificed your position to Lowes, the Depot and WallyWorld? Would the income such sales paid to your employer pay for life as you know it? I doubt it! Would you and your industry be real stable in the face of such price competition? Did you expect some lacking individual who is working at a big box store to A) KNOW that plants need water let alone - B) KNOW what they are looking at as far as a life form goes? Did you really expect them to be able to intelligentlly and coherently answer your questions? If you can answer yes to all of these questions - then you belong at a big box store buying mislabeled and sickly whatevers and hoping they will make you yard look like the Garden of Eden! The Garden of Eden folks weren't cheap or mass marketed if memory serves me correctly. AND if you persist in shopping at such places you'll be tending the Garde of Needin' in stead of Eden. Cause it takes some cash to produce really cool plants. But what would you care about that? And incidentally have you found any Cadillacs in the isles of Lowes lately? Lamboghinis? Ferraris? Nope - didn't think so.

daaaang, sweetwater

who put the bee under your bonnet? dont attack anyone based on where they choose to shop. life's too short to be so angry.

I think if the smaller retail nurseries want to compete, then they need to offer a substantially better product than Lowe's and HD. That's not always the case. I can sometimes find a BETTER selection of plants at Lowe's or HD than I can at some of our local nurseries. If I am going to pay more for plants by shopping a local retailer (which I do ALL the time, by the way), then I want more variety in selection, better tended plants, better ORGANIZED plants, plants that are labeled properly, and plants that have prices on them. Frankly, many of the local nurseries here are offering the same exact stuff as Lowe's and HD. I also don't want to be gouged by the local nurseries on plants that don't warrant luxury pricing. Recently I saw some 5 gallon Sasanqua Camellias for sale at a very reputable local nursery for $65!! Why should I pay $65 for the same exact plant that I can buy at HD or Lowe's for $22?? Is a 200% markup really necessary??

I would far prefer to shop only at HD or Lowe's, but I view it as a free market. If the local plant merchants want more of my business, then they need to offer incentives for me to shop there, such as interesting selection, healthier plants, and reasonable pricing. The onus is on the merchant to attract the buyer. It's not the responsibility of the buyer to spend their hard-earned dollars at the local nurseries out of the goodness of their hearts.

I realise that the Box Stores are putting the small time growers out of business. Which is a sad thing. Sort of like what Wal Mart is doing to K Mart. I keep hopeing that the out of business nursery people will go to work at the Box Stores. They would know the business, and I am sure would get health insurance. Maybe even dental, which by the way we don't have. I did buy a Debutant (darn I miss my spell check) Camellia for $38, from a local nursery, and it died within the year. AND they wouldn't replace it. So even if LOWES doesn't always KNOW, they do guarantee their plants for a year. And by the way I am well pleased with the Canna bargain I purchased last spring, which got this thread started in the first place.

I agree, its a dilemma.
No, you should not expect Lowes, Home Depot, WalMart, or your grocery store to know the growth and habits of the plants they sell. They SHOULD keep them watered. Buyer beware at these stores....be sure you know what you are buying, and how to recognize the plant's health.

As to the small, local nurseries you can expect:
A) higher prices
B) plants (particularly the 4 to 6 cell seedling plants) in larger containers and NOT sprayed with a growth retardant to keep them "shelf sized" until sold (how many of you guys knew that? Growers for the big chains spray the bedding plants with a growth RETARDANT to keep the plants from getting too leggy in those tiny little pots)
C) better selection, correctly tagged
D) willingness to order in and try in THEIR greenhouses the new varieties you've heard of but never seen in your zone.
E) willingness to haggle and trade. Yep, I had a lovely chat with the part owner of a nursery 2 miles from my house, and we decided that starts from my unusual herb and perennial garden (varieties she didn't have) were more than a fair trade for the seedling flats of annuals that I wanted for my veggie garden.

KNOW YOUR NURSERIES!!

Here is a link that might be useful: my gardens

Another few points that haven't been made in the box stores vs. nursery stores are the following:

Box stores, at least where I live, sell varieties of plants that won't/don't grow here.--If you are a new gardener, you can waste tons of $$$ on unsuitable plant material. The local nurseries I buy from sell plants that are suitable to the local conditions and let you know upfront whether a plant might be a bit "iffy."

The local nurseries I shop in cater to the organic plant grower. The box stores I shop in have a few token organic products, but that's it (and they're hidden on a side aisle).

I can find beautiful garden ornaments made by local craftspeople at the local nurseries. The big box stores specialize in mass-produced resin from China.

The knowledge the local nursery people have, in my opinion, is worth more than $8.00/hour and you can't expect to feed families on $8.00/hr. Yes, you're paying more for a plant at the local nursery, but your money is going into the local economy.

When the competition is gone (local nurseries) do you think the big box stores are going to cater to any specialized gardening needs you have? Heck no.

Finally as an example, when Wal-Mart came to Mineral Wells, TX. years ago, they put every other department store out of business. People who had worked for Poston's Dry Goods, Gibsons, & Alco's and had benefits, lost their jobs. These people had families to feed, so they went to work for Wal-Mart. However, Wal-Mart refused to let them work more than 39-1/2 hours/week because if they worked more than that, they would have to pay these people benefits. I think this has changed now, but I never shop at Wal-Mart because of this, even though their prices are cheaper.

I do shop at big box stores. However, I shop more at my local nurseries.

sweetwater,
I feel your pain. I own and operate a small nursery. Luckily, my hubby works full time as a concrete contrator so I don't have to rely on income from nursery to support us....thank goodness,'cause we'd starve to death. But I do try to specilize as well as carry the same plants you can get a big box stores.My prices aren't thru the roof but neither will I mark them at "give-away" prices.I do however have sales on surplus plants(mostly because I'm sick of standing at the potting bench,bumping them up) and during the fall when there's just no more room to jam another plant into the greenhouse/coldframe or under the polytunnels.

I noticed at the start of a new growing season,I have folks coming in very early(like late Feb early March) looking for tomatoes,peppers,impatients,vincas and such because WM already has them in. Sorry,I don't put plant material out too early in the season just to grab your money. I've had several people get upset each year cause I don't do this,they go to big lot stores to get the plants then most come back to me later in the season to replace the plants that got zapped by heavy frost and freeze.

I stay as organic as possible. Plants that have bugs/disease,come off the display area. I do not use a heated greenhouse to force plants into lush growth and blooms out of season. All are left to grow and flower naturally. No heavy fertilizers,growth hormones,growth retardants. Just a little 20-20-20 but mostly good compost I mix into my own home mixed potting medium.

Ok,now it's time for me to climb down off MY soapbox.*G*

PP

I'll have to agree with most of what's been said here so far. If I want to visit Lowe's or HD I have to drive an hour. The local people are not nurseries, but plant dealers who receive shipments from large growers. These people also don't know their plants, but do water regularly and don't use retardants. If I really want some worthwhile plants, I go to Bennet's in Huntsville, or Touliatus in Memphis, or the hundred or so places in McMinnville or Don Shadow's in Winchester. These people really know what they have, and like Shadow, are always introducing new varieties or cultivars from other parts of the world. And they really don't charge that much more. It seems to me that the catalog houses, like Jackson & Perkins, or Wayside Gardens are about double what I pay at these 'hour away' places. We buy some bedding plants like pansies at WalMart, but even my vegetable seeds I get from Burpee or a locally owned vegetable/plant store.
Bought some perennials at the Huntsville Botannic Gardens plant sale, but even they were mismarked. Fortunately I knew what they truly were, so wasn't disappointed. Roy

Boxes primarily carry plants to draw customers to the store to make other nonplant purchases. Period. I don't see much point in being resentful of untrained and low paid staff, most of which are busting their butts just to put some food on the table. Most of them get treated poorly enough as it is by their employers.

Realistically, I don't expect anyone I buy plants from to know the first thing about them; box or otherwise. That way I'm never disappointed.

I'd rather do my own research and rely on that. It's more helpful to ask other gardeners what their experiences are with a particular plant than to expect nurseries to know how a plant will actually peform in the garden.

If the seller can tell me a bit about the plant, then great. But even then, I don't rely on it. Have gotten too much obviously and laughably inaccurate information in the past.

Keeping my trusty botanica books in the car for reference and being armed with a well planned list helps. I also find it helpful to give the nurseries I do business with feedback on what performed and what didn't, as well as what they were understocked on and newer cultivars I find of interest. The ones that listen and plan accordingly get my repeat business.

Amen, Katt_TX!!

Apparently, most of you folks have access to better local nurseries than we have around here! Almost all of the "nurseries" in this area are merely plant re-sellers. They seem to receive a lot of the same plant shipments that the big box stores receive, but they just mark theirs WAY UP, because the plants are being sold by a so-called nursery. Geez, money (for me at least) is in limited supply. Why should I spend more for the same plant in the same condition if it's not necessary? The money that I save on plant purchases can be used for necessities, since I garden only for pleasure.

And I TOTALLY agree with LoraxDave, in that it's up to the merchant to attract the buyer. That's just the way it works. Retail is retail, and charity is charity.

Reading this really makes me wish we didn't have to move down to TN. You see, I was used to family owned and operated "gardens". These people grew there own plants. One of the places grew their own perennials, annuals, veggies, herbs...the list is long. My favorite place however, was Hornbaker Gardens. They had lots of land and beautiful landscaping, using everything they sold. So you could see how it's habits were. I can't find anything like that down here. If someone knows of such a place in the Chattanooga area, please pass it along. I'm providing a link to Hornbakers so you can really see what I'm talking about.
Terry

Here is a link that might be useful: Hornbaker Gardens in Princeton, IL

the last time i went to lowe's, the cashier couldnt' figure out how to take 75% off my tulips. every time i've tried to ask someone where something is, they just point in a direction (usually the wrong one).

ONCE, a man working there actually led me to the product i was looking for. i was really suprised.

Jackie

Lowe's so no knows! I'm planting a veggie garden this year, & I know I won't be buying my plants at Lowe's, Walmart, or Home Depot. I'm heading to Pike nursery & Hastings for my veggies. It will cost me extra (especially since I'll see all those beautiful flowers and be unable to resist buying some of them, nothing new about that though). I will know I'm getting what the label says the plant is, and when buying peppers that is especially important to me. When I looked up the word "mislabled" in the dictionary it showed a picture of Lowe's, Walmart and Home Depot LOL.

I do like Lowes and Walmart, but they definitely "DO NOT" always know...I bought 6 roses that were labeled "Buff Beauty" last spring and only ONE was true to its label. Shame, shame!!!! I'd been looking for that rose for a while and that was truely a let down.

I stopped in to the big orange box to pick up some corrugated piping connectors from the outdoor garden area. Before I got three feet from the shelf, the smell hit me. Then I heard the rustling around me...looked around and saw ripped open bags of grass seed, and large rodent pellets EVERYWHERE...then aaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhh RATS...I couldn't believe it. Within maybe a minute or two I saw 6-8 rats running all over the shelves. Before Willard and crew could attack I high-tailed it out of there and over to Lowes...where at least they keep the rodent population under control!

I am new to gardening. I happen to frequent the big box stores just as much as my local nursuries. Sometimes you can find a good deal at Lowes, HD, WM, etc.

The first time I ever went out & bought plants (from Lowes), I bought some Purple Fountain Grass (Pennisetum rubrum - probably didn't spell that right). I didn't know anything about them but I loved the foliage. The tag said that this plant is a perennial. Not knowing any better, I purchased 4. Well, it is not hardy here (I think only to z8 or z9) and we treat it as an annual. I believe I paid a pretty penny for it considering that the four plants that I bought will probably not be reappearing!

So, lesson learned. I still lurk at the big box stores looking for good deals (have done so much research this winter & have a specific list). Mostly, I frequent my local nurseries (which are pretty good) and some mail order.

I guess I'm lucky. You can't swing a dead cat without hitting a local nursery in CT. At the same time, we also have plenty of Walmarts, Home Depot and Lowes stores. I don't pretend to understand why the plants at the local stores seem to do better than their mass market counterparts. I only know as someone who very recently redesigned my entire front landscape can say that the bushes and perennials that I bought from the local nursery settled in and have already had considerably more growth than the ones that I got at Home Depot and Lowes. The difference is so dramatic that I have no problem with buying all of my future plants at the local nursery and paying the slightly higher price. The only time I would recommend the chain stores is in the case of trees. I found a beautiful Japaneese Maple at Home Depot last year. It was already about 8' tall and had a great shape to it. $150 bucks. Similar trees were selling in the $600's at the local stores.

A couple weeks ago, I asked the Lowes store manager, who was in the garden center at the time, when they would be getting tidal wave petunias in. He said "They just came in and the're out front" Well, regular waves were out front but not tidal waves which I mentioned. He then told me they were the same thing. I told him that they were not...back and forth.
That's the kind of thing that really annoys me.

To the person moving to Chattanooga, the Southeast is covered with local nurseries that grow their own perennials, trees, grasses and shrubs. I don't know any in Chattanooga, but I'm sure you'll find them. The Ag schools at UGA and UNC have spawned a lot of nurseries in this area. There is a mail order nursery in Tennesee called Sunlight Gardens that specializes in native plants. It's in Andersonville, but don't know if that's near you. Niche Gardens is over in NC, and the Athens, GA area is full of wonderful nurseries. So if you don't find what you want in Chattanooga, you could always take a weekend road trip. This area has so many plantsmen and women, you'll become spoled gardening in the South.

Whew....this thread is really hanging in there!!! I recall reading it last year.

Well...this year I work in the garden center at Home Depot.
And can tell you first hand that the one I work at hires people who know about gardening.

The labeling of plants is a different story however. See the plants come in already labeled by these BIG plant growing farms. Most of our growers are local too. Like 'Bonnie' who is out of Union Springs, Alabama.

What is VERY unfortunate is this......most of the people I've met who work for these large nurseries who deliver to Home Depot, Lowes, Walmart, etc.....don't know SQUAT about plants. I MEAN nothing!!!! And they're ARE NOT just delivery people....the plant farm sends them out to set up and help take care of these plants!!

So the customers come in, see this person unloading plants and putting them on the shelves and ASSUME that they work there, ask a question about a plant and get a stupid answer. Then the customer assumes that H.D. employees don't know jack about their product.

But...don't get me wrong, there are a few people working in my dept. who don't know about plants. But they are usually stockers. Also....NONE of the cashiers know ANYTHING about plants. They just don't. Their job is a cashier and one day they might be in the plant dept., but out front checking the whole store the next.

As far as mislabeling goes...I've only seen a couple of times in my store since I've been there....Course if it were some young veggie plant,(like tomato) and it is labeled with the wrong TYPE of tomato. Well, that's just hard to tell until they get older.

That said....alot depends on the individual store and how well it's run. Some are just better than others.

I have a great time shopping at HD, Lowes, Wal-Marts, Target etc. I like to shop and I have gotten some real neat plants and at a very good price. I like the near death rack that you can get a $12 plant for $2. Some you win some you lose. Sure, most of their workers don't know as much as the Garden Web subscribers do about plants but I see no reason to get upset and report it to the world. If you don't want to do business with them there are plenty of vendors on the web that will definitely sell you a $6 plant for &14.95 plus 25% S&H.
One more thing, I know that HD and Lowes will honor a one year plant guarantee. I wonder how many plants meet their demise at the hands of expert gardeners and to no fault of the vendor.

To those who complain about the big box stores, study up on marketing, find your niche, and exploit it. You can't compete with the big boxes on their playing field, but if you satisfy "your market" you can do quite well. Most of us who are serious gardeners make our purchases in the fall, the best time to plant here in the south, and at that time the big boxes are already filling the garden dept. with X-mas trees. Just one in a great many ways the small retailer can carve out a spot to make a living.

Did anyone consider that plants at the box stores as well as at nurseries sometimes are mislabeled because a shopper takes the tags out to read and then puts them back in the wrong pot. I have seen this happen.

I also bought purple fountain grass at Lowe's and, yes, the tag said perennial. I knew it would get killed here in zone 6, so I kept my receipt and the next spring took the dead one in and got a new one, since they guaranteed it for one year. Do you think one could continue to get free grasses every year?? Wouldn't be a bad deal at all.

I couldn't wait for Lowe's to open in our area because of all the great advertising I had seen on the Home and Garden channel. I am sooo disappointed with their garden section. The poor plants lack water and hardly anyone who works in the section knows much about plants. Home Depot in our area has some horticulture savvy people working. I go there for annuals. In spite of paying a higher price I still go to our local nurseries where plants and knowledge of plants are respected.

As in all things, you get what you pay for. Walmart, Lowes and HD pay the help a pittance to put up with smart-allacky customers. If you have the knowledge yourself, shop Walmart, HD, and Lowes for bargains, if you need help shop Pike's or another local nursery.

Just my two cents...

Most of the mass merchandisers talked about in this thread only pay for the products when they are scanned at the check out line. So if you buy six identical items but they come from different nurseries, only one gets paid if they don't scan them all. Also, about that replacement guarantee, the growers are the ones that have to cover the returned plants not the store. Lots of places have gone bankrupt over that "fine print" on their contracts.

Mass merchandisers are killing the economy. As product prices go down and labor prices go up, OUR JOBS ARE GOING OVER SEAS!!!

DH worked in the HD Garden Dept. for about a year while he was working his way through school. Before he started working there, he figured the garden dept. was the loss leader--as another poster said, to bring people into HD to buy other stuff.

But actually, in his HD, the Garden Center was the largest grossing and most profitable department. (And no, DH knows nothing about plants, they just wanted a big strong guy to help load heavy stuff :-). But there were a few knowledgable people in his garden dept.)

No one every went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American consumer.

i got a real good deal on some apple trees at the local lowes toward the end of the season a few years back, they were almost dead but they all made it,in fact they all had great pears on them this year. i live very close to park seed, and the man is right you get what you pay for. but i can't but 50 plants at 4.95 when lowes has them for .99 cents.

This is undoubtedly the longest thread I have ever encountered on gardenweb.

My addition would be that as for myself, I am virtually FORCED to purchase my plants at w-mart/lowes/hd because of the store hours. Local nurseries around here aren't open on Sunday or past 5:00... which is when I have to shop.

I've had mixed luck at them all. Sometimes a deal and sometimes a waste.

Gail

Lowes, HD & Waly-World arn't the only merchants who know little or nothing about plants. Last year I bought blue lake bush bean seed at the local farm seed & feed store. Had to stake them as they grew 12-14 ft. runners. I asked if they had Kentucky wonder pole beans and they tried to sell me a WHITE bean. Ky wonders are brown.
This year I ordered clemson spineless okra seed from Gurneys seed catalog. Only about half the plants are the spineless variety. I bought a 25 plant packet of rutgers tomato plants from the Farmers Co-op. Several of the plants have a heart shaped fruit like ox-heart, not round like rutgers. Don't know who to depend on. At least those box-stores are cheap.

I got my white shrimp plant at HD, and it was blatantly labeled "Golden Shrimp Plant", even though anyone could see that the plant and picture didn't match.

Those places are good if you know what you're looking at, otherwise, they're worthless.

This is what I just hate about ours......Impatients and ferns out on Hot concrete in the full sun, things that you know just left the greenhouses, placed on pallets in the parking lot on hot black asphalt and God forbid someone walk the 25 feet to drag a water hose out to water anything!!! But let us remember, we must trip over those water hoses up and down each isle of flowers. You should see them water the plants on rare occasion, sprinkle over the top of the plant, don't know about yall but my plants like their water on their soil and roots. It's like anything else, the product is only as good as the person who makes it, or in this case, cares for it. I do go through on occasion, but many times I want to cry when I see such beautiful plants so neglected and needlessly dieing. Kinda like looking at children that you know will fall through the cracks, my minds eye sees what they COULD HAVE BEEN. The ones in the city that my daughter lives in are great, but then they do try to hire knowledgable people.

I don't know about Lowe's, but I know HD does not maintain their own plants. I 'almost' worked for a company that that supplied the plants (and is 'supposed' to take care of the plants). Kinda like leasing the garden center.

I went to our local Lowe's a couple weeks ago because I wanted to see if they had any foxglove plants. I looked and didn't see any, so I asked the guy who works in the greenhouse if they had any foxgloves. He thought for a few minutes then said "Nooo.. but we do have plenty of PHLOX!"
I said "No, no, what I want is FOXGLOVES, you know, digitalis." (thinking he had maybe misunderstood me the first time) He said "Well, I'm not sure what that is, but like I said, we have plenty of really nice phlox"

Grrrrrr!!!

LOL Vicki.At least he didn't steer you to the workglove section.I've never seen any foxgloves in the box stores.Pretty easy from seed though.If you start some now,you'll have many next spring.

I must put in my two cents for Home Depot today because I bought several very nice, 3 gallon Mohawk viburnums this week for about 15 dollars apiece or so. I don't remember the exact price, I was too busy filling my wagon.

I've been wanting a Mohawk for at least 5 years, but haven't been able to find one for under fifty bucks.

Of course, they are just now leafing out. No blooms. Next year will determine if indeed I do have Mohawks or not. I think the probability is high because they were advertised in the weekly flier.

The best deal I ever got from Lowe's was $2/piece Mexican bush sage that was in the herb section. (Can you imagine eating that stuff?) I almost never buy plant material there, just potting soil, because I think the prices are usually too high for what you get. Sometimes I'm pleasantly surprised by what is there, like some of the native azalea hybrids, but I can get better prices and selection at someplace like Niche Gardens. That's been my experience anyway.

I really like the plant selection at the Lowes near me. They are usually even watered well. I got a good deal on black magic elephant ears 4.99 last year. They had them with the pond plants. I do find that the staff isn't that informed on plant specifics. Of course you can use this to your advantage ~ I really hate the walmart garden centers here because they let the plants die from underwatering. There are 3 walmarts here and it seems none of them water the plants!

Down in Covington La, we have a very good plant dept at our Lowes. And the head of the dept is very knowledgable. Young red head, Kerrin in the department is very approachable. And as for watering, every day event. I bought all of my plants this year there. We had a wedding in the yard last month, and I had plenty of compliments on the yard. Covington Lowes Knows!!!

Can't vouch for all HD's, but ours in Monroe, LA has very helpful garden staff. I live half a mile from a local nursery, but drive ten minutes to our HD (which is half a mile from our Lowes). No one at the Lowes garden center has ever been helpful. HOWEVER, our HD garden manager is fantastic...very knowledgeable and more than willing to help and answer any questions I have. On several occasions, he has seen me browsing and pulled me over to show off his newest find. He also asks me what plants I would like and makes an effort to get those from his vendors. Also, one of his former employees was one of our guest speakers at the landscaping classes offered by LSU Ag Center this past winter...she was very informative and inspirational. Apparently this manager's knowledge and that of his staff pays off...he told me today that his store is the top-selling HD garden center in their district.

Just want to add my 2 cents...

I noticed a disturbing trend in the last 2 years. When Lowe's first came to my area several years ago, the nursery merchandise was great, properly labeled and the people working there were above average (meaning they still didn't know as much as myself, but I have a foot up since I love plants and gardening...it's not just a job). Anyway, what I noticed is, the nursery personnel have all gone and (eek!) the employees from the Home Depot garden section started being hired at Lowe's. The plants are now treated the same as they were at HD - neglected.

But I remember 12 years ago when the battle was between Builders Square and Home Depot. HD was the place to be, great stuff and employees. Well now HD is what BS used to be, and Lowe's in now HD as well. Very sad.

You really have to know your plants if you're going to find bargains at either place, and sad to say the selection has gotten so generic at Lowe's it's just not fun anymore.

Lowes DOESN'T know. Trust me. I used to work at the one around here. They have one or two people in charge of the nursery. They're never there. The clerks outside are people forced to go to the outside registers who usually hate being out there. They know next to nothing about plants and read the tags to disperse advice. Most of the experts hide out in the back smoking while the crowds are there. You won't get any real nursery or plant advice there.

I love Lowe's but not every store is the same and every garden center is not the same. If I want a particular plant and I find it at Lowe's, then good for me. If it looks bad, I don't have to buy it. I do think Lowes's, at least the ones in our area, have better garden centers than Home Depot. I do visit local nurseries and garden centers and find that $ 40. for a basket of petunias is a bit much.
You have to shop for plants like anything else and not everyone is going to care for them as much as you would like. If I want Hosta, I go somewhere that grow them. If I want ordinary, I go to Lowes. Never WallyWorld. It's still fun looking.