Well, they didn't have a phone number listed so didn't get any information; guess I'll just have to go out there and see what's going on! I did print out their list and there are a lot of natives that sure aren't available at Home Depot, that's for sure! Lilyfinch, I know just what you're talking about, used to live up north, and I do appreciate our long growing season. However, you get the gorgeous colors in the Fall, and such a beautiful spring showing!

maybe i can help clear up some confusion here ive worked in the nusresry industry for 10 years now and i am a buyer for one of these types of chain stores, orchard supply hardware. truthfully, home depot, lowes, walmart, taget, all of these we all buy from similar if not the same sources as each other. now independent nurseries and garden centers, buy from the same growers as we buy from with one major difference, some do actually grom their own material to sell at a slightly higher profit. most chain garden centers are focused on one thing and that is turning the product so sitting on it and waiting for it to grow doesnt make good business sense especially when their space is entirely taken up for merchandise. alot of independent nurseries get their plants already grown and ready to go to the consumer, just like i buy them, the quality is the same because they come from the same grower, the same crop. the biggest difference in what the plant quality looks like is when the consumer goes to shop for the product. alot of times you go into a chain store and the plants are wilting the soil in the pot is dry and theres no clerk to be found or none that are knowledgeable. the key is to shop around, find that one place that caters to your needs and has the product selection and the quality you like, remember the plants when they come off the delivery truck are virtually the same its the finished product that counts look for a place that hass a friendly and knowledgeable sales staff and that keeps a clean and neat place to shop, one clue is to look at the way the employees are working, are they putting plants away or hanging out with other employees when much of the plants in the nursery are obviously dying from a lack of water? these are the places you should stter clear of. the places that do the right thing in these circumstances and that focus on making an enjoyable shopping experience for the consumer are the ones you should goto. price is definately a concern. most chain stores now do price matching so ask. so to answer the question. yeah go ahead and give home depot a shot if the satisfy your needs. go for it.

Oh YOU were the one that grabbed Francis D? I saw it separated in a pile that I knew belonged to someone and I fell in love with it. But I couldn't find another and I had too many already so I had to go without it. But I'm so glad you got it. I think I may have to get one next year. Debbie recommended it and said it was great. I hope it does well for you. Some red roses have amazing scent. But scent for some reason comes in roses of every color and sometimes not at all. Everyone says Veteran's Honor has an nice scent, but I don't smell it at all. Mr. Lincoln and Oklahoma are two red and very fragrant roses. Oklahoma has such a strong heady scent its unsurpassed by any other rose in my garden. Even more so than Fragrant Cloud, but it turns almost black in the sun so I'm not a huge fan. In terms of fungicide, I use two different ones (its good to alternate so that the fungus does not become resistant to the fungicide. I use Bayer disease control for roses and flowering shrubs. This is sold at Home Depot/Lowes. Its a liquid that you mix into a sprayer. I actually got a hose end sprayer because the pump ones were always clogging and I got tired of lugging around the heavy tank. It doesn't spray a fine mist which is preferable, but its much easier and you don't have to pre mix it (allowing for less contact with the undiluted spray which is more harmful than the spray once its diluted). Just pour it in the bottle and set the dialer to the correct dilution rate. There is also the added benefit that it disperses larger droplets that are less likely to be inhaled or drift too much in the wind. And it covers your rose bushs extremely quickly making it much faster chore. The other one I use is Banner Maxx. This is probably the number one fungicide used by rosarians. Its expensive (i think i paid $55 for a small bottle) but it lats a very long time as its like half a teaspoon per gallon or something like that. I've had it for years and its still full so in reality its less expensive in the long run. I alternate between the two, like I said, but the Bayer one (be sure to get the Disease Control liquid that you spray, not the granules or liquid "drench" that doesn't work on BS, even though it says it does) is inexpensive and readily available. You can use it every two weeks or as often as once a week if needed (once every two weeks is fine unless you have a really bad infestation of BS). Immunox is also a good one, but that one doesn't last as long and you have to spray it once a week, which in my option is too much maintenance. Banner maxx is also 2x a month like the Bayer. Neither spray will harm your plants if you spray early in the morning or in the evening, but I recommend you spray them in the evening so it has all night to dry and remains wet for a good long time before evaporating. Never spray anything that is an oil (neem oil for example) in the summer as it will burn your leaves. These two sprays have never harmed either of my plants even when I have sprayed at less desirable times (high heat/sunny). But again, just to be on the SUPER safe side, evening is best. I am sure the sulfur spray you have will most likely work, but it would have to be applied every week or so. The Bayer/Banner is a systemic fungicide, meaning it is absorbed by the leaf and will protect that leaf for a good amount of time. The sulfur may wash off in the rain and make it essentially useless although its better than nothing at all. I have never sprayed sulfur or copper fungicides so I cannot give any kind of advice on them. But if you'd like to use them just because you already purchased them, be sure to follow the directions and spray in the evening and I'm sure you'll be ok. (And maybe test it first on a few leaves before spraying the entire garden/rose bed). Again, its still better than nothing at all, even if you need to apply it more often. Luckily/unluckily we've had a very dry summer (for S.FL) so black spot has been kept at bay, but even without rain the morning dew is enough to cause severe BS (again, we have not had this problem yet, but certainly it will come once the summer rains arrive). I (because of laziness really) only spray once I sense the humidity in the air. Otherwise I let them get a little BS and go on my merry way. In the summer/humid season however, its almost impossible to get away with not spraying in S.Fl (unless you only grow disease resistant roses, and even then they are only disease resistant. Not disease proof).

In SE VIrginia, Home Depot contracts with a local nursery to produce most 0f the plant material, arrange the displays and provide all the care. Plants that are not up to par are pulled by nursery employees and put back on the truck. The nursery employees are fairly knowledgeable but when they're not there, good luck getting answers to plant questions. Since the nursery eats the losses they are motivated to take good care of the plants and locally, they do a very good job keeping up with the watering. Lowe's, on the other hand, has a plant specialist in the department assisted by others who have some on-line training. The Plant Specialist does the ordering and makes markdown decisions. Our Lowe's has several employees who are knowledgeable and their training is geared towards assisting customers. During peak season they are assisted by vendors who unload and arrange the plants. In our local store, the nursery has a subsidiary who provides these merchandisers, called Plant Partners. Lowe's expects the merchandisers to focus on tasking and let Lowe's employees handle the customers. The weak point in this arrangement was that the watering was supposed to be handled by part-time, untrained employees. (One told me she refused to water the Kordes roses because they were so thorny and she wasn't provided any gloves!) I've worked at both stores.