I've noticed a bit of an uptick in prices. 3-5 dollar plants going for 5-7 dollars, gallon or two pots that used to be 6-10 bucks now more along 10-15 bucks.

I haven’t done too much plant shopping yet, but what I did buy I thought was priced similarly to last year. I bought Mai Tai geum quarts for $8 Or $9 each and a globe thistle quart for about the same, which seemed reasonable for the nursery I was at. I wouldn‘t be surprised if prices are higher this year though.

Most of what I buy gets shipped here and shipping is way higher- and less dependable- than ever. I tend to buy smallish 'starter' plants (huge yard, limited budget) and an order currently in progress cost me $30 shipping alone. I remember back in the day balking when my plant order quantities pushed the shipping from the $9.95 bracket up to $12.95- I thought that was outrageous. Now it sounds like a dream.

As far as my one local shopping opportunity- Lowe's- I haven't noticed that things are terribly higher, but a bit. Forget local 'nurseries'- which have all died out. They never had anything of any interest whatsoever anyway- very limited offerings.

IMO it's the whole Covid inspiring millennials to take up gardening thing. They've swarmed into the houseplant hobby with deep pockets and those prices sky-rocketed as a result. Some houseplant strikes a nerve and they're paying hundreds of dollars for a Thai Constellation- I keep telling them to be patient and the price will come down, but NO- it's the "in" plant so they must have one. It's madness.

This spring they're taking up gardening and here we go.

Whippersnappers!

Everything is higher. That's life.

"Little Redhead" seemed to be on the hot-plant list last year, so not surprised it's going for more.

I live on the outskirts of the metro area, so everything costs more, even food. I went shopping for annuals and herb starts in this area yesterday, and it seems as though prices did go up a bit, maybe 50 cents or so more a pot. What is different is places aren't selling the amount of small cell packs or flats like they used to, the majority of annuals/vegetables/herbs are in 4" or larger pots. One place DC'd flats all together, they only sell in jumbo-size 6-packs or larger with a corresponding jumbo-size price; it's been this way for a handful of years now. Pre-made pots and hanging baskets are the big thing.

It's like a whole other shopping world once I travel out of this area; pre-COVID when I commuted to another part of the state to work I would do my weekly produce shopping on my lunch hour at the end of the week because it is so much cheaper. Nursery stock, too. (OTOH, what I paid in gas to get to work every day more than negated the savings on food and plants...)

Due to COVID induced labor shortages in combination with high consumer demand the decorative plant supply is being predicted to pretty much dry up completely this summer - if you think the kinds you want are expensive now wait until you can't get them for any price.

^^ Which is why I went out there looking for stuff now, I figured places would be wiped out by the time I usually venture out, which is usually around third week of May (because it's too early to plant warm-season annuals up here and it's a PITA to have to tend them in the time being). Same story for fruit trees -- got out there and bought them as soon as they were out on the nursery lot.

I hate shopping this way, not just for plants but for pretty much everything nowadays. My mentality has switched to they have it, I'm eventually going to need it so I should buy it now, even if I don't need it right now.

A mixture of what the previous posters have said. In general, prices at the nurseries seem about the same, from the few I’ve started going to this season. There were some basic things pre-COVID I could count on to get in specific areas - eg. lemongrass at the grocery garden centre, 6 packs of sweet potato vines at Lowe’s, etc. These days they often don’t have them, or if they do, you have to snap them up fast, because they won’t have them tomorrow. In some ways it’s made me a more precise shopper, because I don’t hem and haw any more, waiting and searching for that elusive deal. Nope, I get out there and fill up that cart like I might never see things again.

A commercial nursery near me that usually sells to the public as well is now only serving landscape contractors because of their greatly reduced inventory. Two nurseries I visited yesterday also had diminished stock. Even my Home Depot doesn’t have its usual selection. I’m hoping they’ll get more in as the weather gets warmer, but we’ll see.

A Cimicifuga racemosa 'Atropurpurea' in a 6" pot.....$29 Canadian/$23 US:

^^That plant would go for at least that, if not more, where I live.

Lots of gardening items have risen dramatically in price, and are still difficult to come by. I was shopping for ProMix medium for seed starting, and a bale that used to be $38 was $90+. I assume that is an extreme outlier, but that one item could have a ripple effect on prices of other items. We are living in uncertain times. Take good care of one another.

Martha

rouge that was a wicked price, good thing it was a nice plant lol!

I only buy plants I can't grow from seed and I can't propagate myself. The costs can add up pretty fast.