I work for the nursery that supplies & maintains stock at HD's in the MD, OH, PA, VA & NC region. We started 50% reductions on shrubs & trees last week, with more to follow. Markdowns are store-specific, based on inventory ... if there's way too many azaleas on hand, for example, they'll be discounted. The weekly HD flyers almost always feature stock at their regular, not sale, prices. There's been the occasional exception. In the many years I've been gardening, I've always purchased from local independent nurseries for the very reasons Bboy & Mbuckmaster have stated. The economy drove me into my job managing a HD garden center this year, and given the success our center has enjoyed, and the consistantly positive feedback I've been getting from our customers & HD regional managers, it's the boots on the ground in any given store that makes all the difference. The stock we receive is always healthy & vigorous. IF they'd hire dedicated plant people, experienced & knowledgable gardeners to manage their centers, I have no doubt the big box problems could be minimized. Yet, when the nursery supplier execs walk through my center, they snicker and come up just short of discouraging my efforts to care for and present our stock in a thoughtful and intelligent manner - as an independent nursery would do. It's a lot more work to do things right, and to go the extra mile make the plant-buying experience intersting & educational, but the bottom line is it's made a HUGE difference in sales and in establishing a loyal customer base over previous years. I got a good chuckle out of mbuckmaster's comment, because it's often the customers looking at *me* as though I have lobsters coming out of my ears :) I know for certain there's great HD garden centers out there. It's a matter of finding them.

Thanks for the heads-up on this! Georgiarose, I almost missed them yesterday, and was close to leaving thinking that store wasn't having the sale. But they were on the rolling carts out in the parking lot. Not a huge selection, but a good deal if they happened to have something you wanted. Ours had May Night Salvia, Purple Ice Plant, some Dianthus, and Heuchera (just three kinds). I got the purple ice plant and Amethyst Mist & Stormy Seas Heuchera. I'd been wanting some Heucheras anyway, and I had heard good things about Amethyst Mist especially, so I got five of those.

Thanks for the tip bumblebeez!! I got a lot to plant this year so I'm going to check it out over the weekend. Hopefully something will be left.

We lost a place (Conrads) here south of Tulsa to buy plants, but Carmichaels in Bixby still has great selections even if they are a lot more expensive than they were 5 yrs ago. They were .59 or .69 per 3-pack when I started buying them but are now about 1.39 give or take a dime. For a flat they are a much better deal. Atwoods has a pretty good selection of the common ones and they are really cheap, but many appear to have been treated with something that slows growth. If you got them, don't give up on them yet, because it may take another week or two before they take off.