That's been my experience. In general, not where I choose to look for garden plants.

Today I was looking for salvia coccinea, and surprised that even Lowe's didn't have that little annual. I'll have to hit a real nursery next week and see if I can find some annuals to add some color.

The last three years or so the garden area has gotten smaller and smaller and last year was downright pathetic. A few sad plants that looked like they should be put out of their misery.

Dee

I had better luck with bare-root perennials from Costco.

;)
Dee

Today, all 10 are up and growing great. I even think I will get blooms this year from them. It will be fun to see what color they are.

You will get hits and misses from just about any place you buy your plants. If you are a careful shopper and look at the plants carefully, you can get great bargains at Walmart.

I've gotten a number of things there. The ones I can remember off the top of my head:
Anemone blanda, Iris reticulata, purple smoke bush, and a 'Touch of Class' Polemonium (pic below)

CMK

Because by doing so one supports the local nursery.

In one town, the buyer actually knows what will grow and what won't ... they have vegetable starts at the right time of year and a lot of plants from local suppliers. They have very few totally unsuitable plants.

In another - the buyer has no clue about plants and it's as though they think whatever SoCal is sending must be OK for Phoenix.

I also bought starsister dahlias. They did so-so the first year. Some came back last year and did a little better. Three came back this year, and I think they will do very well. Considering dahlias are annuals in my area, I am happy.

I bought a light blue lobelia last year also. Not only did it bloom very nicely, but it dropped more than enough seed for another round.

I also bought what I call baby daffodils from WM last year. Four out of five came back, and they were much larger this year. I bought more this year. :)

I have had other things from there not come back, but I think they were mainly clearance bulbs. The selection is not great and flowers are often not great, but I still check occasionally. There are certainly plenty that look sad.

Got some autumn joy sedum and bare root daylilies as well. About 75% of daylilies were mislabeled, but I was expecting that and don't care.

Big bag of daffys and another couple bags of tulips - all of which keep coming back except some purple ones that disappeared. For tulips, I thought that was awesome.

I've noticed in the last few years a shift towards more perennials. I think that's a good thing.

Oh, and a decent - sized windmill palm for 12 bucks!

Here it is, May 7, still snow piles here and there and the air temp is only36 ^o. I could buy early, house things in the garage and by Memorial Day or the week after have all kinds of stressed out and root bound things. This is a part of the country where the calendar isn't your best guide.