Home Depot

I have purchased plants both online and at the local garden center for the past ten years and never had a bad experience. I garden in a harsh windy desert climate and plants from Home Depot have the highest survival rates here even when planted during heat exceeding 100f. The shipped plants were well packed and arrived healthy and undamaged. The prices are also great. Last year I bought several $50 trees from Brighter Blooms and received tiny baby trees that didn't make it through summer. I got a nice 6ft tree from Home Depot for the same price and it is thriving. They also have great roses that don't sucker. The garden center is lovely to visit and employees always friendly.

OK, I know, real gardeners should not buy their shrubs from Home Depot. But I had an outstanding experience buying a rare variety at a very reasonable price. After much research, I wanted 3 Blush Pink Nandinas. I tried my three local garden nurseries who did not have them in stock nor could get them. I searched online and found only a handful of places that sold them by mail. The largest container size with the lowest price was Home Depot. I paid $32.98 per 2 gallon container with free shipping. Other options were in the $45 price range plus shipping and sales tax. Many of those places were sold out. I did find a one quart container for about $25 but that was just too small for my needs. The three plants arrived in excellent condition and a reasonable size for the price; about 15 inches tall. My only complaint is that the three plants were likely recently moved from a one gallon container to the 2 gallon containers. The bottom half of each container was potting soil with the root ball on top. The roots had clearly not penetrated the potting soil in the bottom of the pot. Plants have been in the ground for a week and still looking good. In the past, I have bought annuals, perennials, and shrubs on sale at Home Depot with good results. You do need to check the stock over carefully to make sure they have been properly watered and cared for. Certainly, much cheaper than my local nursery; but not nearly the selection. So I had a very good experience buying online with Home Depot. After my internet search, I found most of their stock for the south and mid-Atlantic comes from a nursery in Alabama. Sorry, I forget the name. The plants arrived with a plastic bag around the pot to contain the soil and moisture; and the plant was well boxed to avoid damage from shipping.

After a negative online experience with 'The Hosta Farm' and their hydrangeas, I decided to try some other online hydrangea sources, including 'Proven Winners' online source for hydrangea. When running a search for 'Proven Winners' hydrangea Home Depot also showed up. Truthfully...Home Depot is the model for all honest online plant sellers! WOW!!! Yes, 'Proven Winners' online service and plants were also good, but not even in the same 'Ball Park' .. so to speak. Plants at Home Depot were cheaper .. shipping is either cheaper or FREE. I've used their Free Delivery 3 times so far - and the plants come with a return label in the box, though you can print out your plant order email and just return the plant to a nearby Home Depot. However, the plants are so healthy and beautiful that returning any of them never entered my mind. Basically, their easy return method/s - no questions asked - is apparently their way of showing the buyer that their plants are going to be superior plants that few buyers will want to return.

Home Depot for mail order flower bulbs? Who would have guessed! I found Asiatic lily "Crimson Pixie" at Homedepot.com. The price was right and I ordered two bags of 6 bulbs each. They arrived in only a few days - shipped from Meridian, Mississippi. The sizes varied from small to medium, and some were already sprouting, but I was glad to have them because the rabbits had eaten away at my red border lilies leaving gaps in the border. Planted them the same day among my already blooming red border lilies.