I know what you mean. I stumbled across a great sale (50% off) at a local nursery, and came away with 25 plants for $26 dollars. I'll be busy this weekend, too. Have fun!

The local nurseries are running clearances, but the big chain garden centers - Lowes, Home Depot, and Walmart haven't even reduced the annuals yet. Sometimes they put the half-dead stuff on the clearance rack (Lowes is best at that), but they haven't done much cutting of prices overall.

And the plants get such irregular watering and care that they just become more at-risk of dying after purchase as the season rolls forward. I don't understand what they are waiting for.

I saw full-price coneflower gallons at Home Depot, most of them dying. Shade plants and sun plants, baking together in a parking lot display. Roses, eaten to the stems by JB.

I was at Lowe's the other day and most of the tree pots had blown over. The wind wasn't so bad - but the pots had so dried out that they became top-heavy and fell over. No one was picking them up, let alone watering them. I am willing to gamble on a cheap perennial, but I don't think I would ever a shrub or tree from one of those places at full price - most of them probably will not make it after all the parking lot shock they are put through.

Lowes has a big display of Tropicanna cannas. But they are blooming, and still full price at $12.99. They will soon wilt and look bad. Why not reduce them now, and sell them out at peak appearance? It doesn't make sense - they would blow out of there at half price, and if they wait 'til they look nasty, they will be on the $1 clearance cart.

Has anyone worked at a big-box garden center? Why don't their pricing policies make more sense?

I have to agree that I don't understand the way Lowes and Home Depot price their plants. I was in Home Depot today to buy string trimmer line, and of course, had to look around the garden section. In the back, on the clearance racks, were a few hanging baskets. Now, they were in desperate need of someone deadheading and picking out the old dead stuff, but by no means a lost cause, and they were $2.99. When I headed up toward the front, they had the same "combinnation" baskets, not looking in much better shape for $9.99! (But I was good and didn't buy anything! :-) )

I did however make a great score on some annuals at Lowe's the other week. I picked up 4 pink begonias at $0.05 each, six pack of fuschia impatiens for $0.01, and another plant (it looks like a blue indian paintbrush) for $0.10. I put the begonias and impatiens in with some snapdragons, and voila.....two beautiful planters. And for under $0.50!

Both those stores really angered me a month or so ago, to the point that I will not buy their plants. I stopped at Lowes to pick up some soil yesterday, at the price of gas I didn't want to go out of my way so I stopped there. While there I saw some pots and stopped to look at them, a clerk said you want those? I just reduced them to $1. They are nice pots, fiberglass, beaded top decoration and about 12" across. I bought 10 of them! I pitied the plants tho, fuschia baking in the sun, gerbera daisies begging for a drink and numerous shade lovers languishing on the hot concrete.

Well I was back at Lowe's on Saturday and picked up 2 more roses for $2.50 a piece. Of course the climbers I put off buying a couple days before were gone but I was still happy with the deal I got. My biggest peeve about these places is how the plants are so over fertilized. I find this to be the case at our local more reputable nursery too. They don't clearance their plants until they are REALLY dead looking though.