I didn't see anything new in those big box stores this year, except the prices (much higher).
But was lucky to find a local family run small garden centre/nursery. They have many plants which I really like. I guess we all get picky afterwards. Most of us love to try growing different things.
Maybe you should start looking up your local small nursery, see if they have anything that could grab you....

Or grow from seed - lots more choices available.

What's with the blue type?color>

The big box offerings were definitely underwhelming this year. But they, they have always been underwhelming--just this year they are more so. Even the locally owned nurseries haven't had much interesting this year when it comes to tropicals, tender perennials and annuals.

I got a lot of my tender perennials, annuals, and tropicals by mail order this year, because that way I had lots of choices. Try Singing Springs Nursery, Color Farm Coleus, Firmly Planted, Rosy Dawn Gardens, Antonelli's Begonias, Mischel's Greenhouses, Select Seeds and Kartuz Greenhouses.

I agree that the box stores around me seem worse than usual in terms of selection. They definitely seem to go for volumn and have flats and flats all the same. I fortunately have a nearby farm stand that offers great variety. Often they will have the same cultivars I considered in the seed catalogs and I love that because often I can try one pack and see if it is something I want to grow for the following year (before I commit the time and space of growing a flat of something that may not perform well).

Generally speaking, nurseries have a much nicer selection than box stores. Still, though, I do agree the selection is dwindling.

I've been underwhelmed by the ornamental grass selections this year. Last year I was able to buy several tall grasses that I normally don't see available locally. (pink muhly grass, for example)
This year, however, is a big fat bust. I can't even find any decent looking pampas grass. As far as other plant selections go, I'm actually surprised at the variety that has been available from local nurseries and the big box stores. I've basically been able to find and purchase anything that I go out looking for...as long as it isn't an ornamental grass.

If I want something new and exciting, I go to my local family owned nursery. They always have "different" versions of the basics along with really neat lesser known annuals. I go to big box for stuff like white vinca and pink impatiens..And this time of the year, I go to rescue plants on the clearance shelf!

LOL, Eric I just get bored w/ black type.

Even the small nurseries didn't really "blow me away" w/ their variety. They did have some less common items but not as much I had expected.

What I would really like is to have ALL the summer annual/tropical/tender perennial selection available at the same time, as early as is reasonable. It gets frustrating buying things one week and holding them until their "companions" appear in the nurseries a week or two later. I'm torn on the whole hunt for cool plants thing--I sort of like prowling the nurseries for new and wonderful plants, but I hate dealing with the traffic driving from nursery to nursery in this town, and I truly would prefer to visit ONE nursery that had everything I wanted that week.

Summergirl, I know what you mean about rescuing potbound plants. This is my weakness, and I always end up with more than I can fit in my garden. (So, I resort to container gardening!)
jlrmiller, I agree that it is frustrating that stores get things in "waves". It's not so much the changing varieties that frustrate me...it's that fact that I may see something next week that's a better color choice than what I bought last week. This happened this year with my choice of snapdragons. Oh, well, the second purchase found a home in one of my containers :-)
Ontheporch

It is too bad that you arent able to do your own seeds. The selection is OVERWHELMING!!! Trying to decide which colors, which varieties, which company to order from...........

I remember back when I first got started, spending all winter long looking at catalogs, wishing and wanting certain things. Then, going to nurseries and box stores with "plans" for the things I saw in the catalogs. I remember the dissapointment of rarely finding a single thing I wanted. This is what prompted me to learn to grow from seed, and has proven to be the most rewarding and passionate thing I have ever done in my life. I have even started selling plants, and those who buy from me are given many catalogs, so that they can tell me exactly what they want, and I grow them for them.

If I had to choose only from box stores, I would be massively dissapointed. But mostly with the quality. I had to buy some Merlin Blue Morn petunias from wal mart this year, as I had grown 60 of them from seed, only to have rabbits devour them overnight. I had to go back twice and buy more, and the rabbits showed me no mercy on them. I spent about $1.95 on 100 seeds, and then spent about 20 dollars on these plants, because I had to have this variety to finish the look. Oh what pathetic little plants they were!! About 10 inches tall, with one flower, one weak little stem. I could not rely on this every year.

I live in a really strange small town, where the few nurseries that are here seem to think that everyone in town only needs one color of each type of plant. Only pink wave petunias. Only red geraniums. Only white vinca.......Talk about dissapointing!!

I think that the limited selection available in many towns is because that's what sells. Unless the town has a large population of very active, very horticulturally sophisticated gardeners, the selection is limited for economic reasons. No nursery wants to be stuck with three full flats of unsold batface Cuphea, no matter HOW cool it looks and no matter how well it performs.

I don't mean to be condescending, but in the nursery business, you have to sell what the majority of your customers are willing to buy. And the majority of customers want "a little color to brighten up the place". Their needs and desires ARE met by pink petunias, red geraniums and white vinca.

Things are very different in some major urban areas (Portland, Seattle and Napa county come to mind) because gardeners there WANT all the "cool" stuff that is available.

Things were very different in Northeast Kansas when I lived there, because there were legions of avid gardeners with every conceivable interest. I live in Northern Nevada now, and as more Californians move to our area, the selection has improved at a couple of nurseries. My area still isn't noted for a large number of avid gardeners, but I expect that may change.

I think you missed my point. My point was that they only offer one color of each plant. My guess is, there are not many horticulturally sophisticated folks here because they havent been exposed to what is new and exciting. And they probably just got bored with it, years ago.

I understand why they dont have oodles and oodles of new variety plants, however, I will never understand only offering one color choice. I also dont understand what point you are making about this, in response to my response. Mentioning why it is that people buy annuals ("for a little color here and there")has nothing to do with why our nurseries only offer one color, nor does it make a dent into the reasons why people garden in the first place. This is quite an insulting statement to the wonderful world (and variety selection) of annual plants.

The majority of people buy what they know. And they want a perfect plant. Now. And not too expensive, please. In fact the big box store price will do. So most of what you offer will be what you know sells. What else will pay the bills?

Now, if you customers can place your order NOW for each and every one of your annuals for 2006, tell me exactly which week you will be in to pick them up (come rain, shine,hail, snow, frost, heat wave, vacation, school, payday, birthday, mother's day, clouds, newspaper and magazine articles promoting particular plants, the local and regional gardening shows....well, you get the message) we'll do our best to have them in stock.

Keep supporting your independent garden centers. We don't sell lumber, carpet, groceries, plumbing supplies, kitchen counters, and tile. We need to make a profit on the plants. There's nothing else to carry us like the big box stores. And we usually know a whole lot more than the big box store garden center people. We carry more colors, more varieties, and really try to care for our plants while they are with us. Can you say that about the box stores?

And if you want to see more cool, new plants offered, let your garden center know. Ask why a certain plant or color isn't carried. In fact, apply for a part time job in the spring season--get a terrific discount and have a blast!!! You'll see more terrific plants than you ever imagined.

I can't wait to see the rest of next year's new catalogs so I can begin ordering!!! Believe me, you will have more than one color of Waves--although I don't grow them, because I believe there are better trailing petunias. I promise to order them in, though.

Happy gardening!
Viola

To Viola--IF I could persuade any of my local nurseries to get in my annual/tropical/tender perennial wishlist on any weekend of their choosing, all in ONE trip, I'd be ecstatic. I'd even place that order by July 1 of this year without complaint. I understand why they don't, though. I want onesies, twosies, threesies of about 20 or 30 different plants. That means they would have to order 20 or 30 flats of really unusual stuff, and couldn't be sure of selling the rest of each flat. I'll start what I can from seed next year and continue to wish for what I know isn't reasonable for any of the nurseries in this area. And I'll end up making at least one trip to the Sacramento (I live in Reno-Sparks) area nurseries to get all the unusual stuff I crave.

ljrmiller, I never thought about getting annuals by mail order? Do you get good sized plants?

Viola - you go girl!! I firmly believe every single one of us *needs* to support our local independent nurseries. If we don't, they will soon disappear, and that's not worth saving a buck or two on a flat of annuals.

linnea, usually the mail-order plants aren't as large as the ones you get at local nurseries. However, when I want specific varieties I don't have a lot of choice. I have two unheated mini-greenhouses, so when the smaller plants arrive, I pot them up immediately into larger pots and hold them in the greenhouses until it's safe to plant them into containers. By then, they are about the same size as anything I might find at the local nurseries.

I don't order "ordinary" annuals/tender perennials/tropicals like petunias, marigolds, pansies or snapdragons through the mail, because I think those are best purchased locally, and they are very much available locally.

Since we have cold nights even in summer (not freezing, but usually 25-40 degrees colder than daytime highs), and our soil is VERY slow to warm to tropical growing conditions, I have to grow cannas and other tropicals by starting them indoors and taking them out to the greenhouses when they break dormancy. If I tried to start them directly in the ground or containers outside, they would just rot from the cold soil.

Lisa, Thanks for the nurseries list. A couple were new to me. I've placed multiple orders from Singing Springs since they have heat/humidity tested their offerings...very helpful for us in SE. Plus I love their selections.

I do shop locally...always find a few new interesting plants, but I can't be positive so I order "must haves" very early, then place another order after scouting nearby. I wish the locals would/could send early emails or post online what they will have to offer. Not necessarily a fancy site, just basic info. I'd be glad to place early order with the locals. I just want to be fairly certain I'll get most of what I want...and the particular cultivar, not a substitute second-best.

josh

I've actually been pleasently surprised by selection this year. But I do always have better luck at "small" nurseries than larger "chain" "box" stores. :)

Great. So NOW Lowe's has a stunning selection: The things I didn't buy (but thought about):

Aloe striata, a HUGE one for about 25 bucks
Canna 'Tropicanna'
Thunbergia 'Strawberry (?) Smoothie' (Black-eyed Susan)
A yellow-flowered Justicia (Shrimp Plant)
Phormium tenax (the dark-leaved one--but I just don't have any need for any more this year)

The things I DID buy:

Ipomoea nil, (beautiful blue morning glory) a great big one in a 5-gal. pot for about 13 dollars
4 really nice ornamental pepper plants
Shasta Daisy 'Aglaia'
Dryopteris erythrosora (Autumn Fern)
Coleus 'Kiwi Fern'
Caladium--a hefty clump of red/green ones
Lavandula multifida (a Lavender--so maybe it won't be hardy, but it looked really interesting)

Tomorrow is August 1st! I could have been enjoying these plants for at least two months had they been available...