I almost bought a tractor at HD. Went there, told them what I wanted. They told me the only one they had was the display model. I told them I was not interested unless they gave me $1000 off (it was a $3000 tractor)They said the manufacturer does not allow discounts. I said, ok then order me a new one from the manufacturer and I will pay full price. Sorry sir, we don't do that. I left and purchased the tractor from a real dealer. Bottom line, HD and Lowes have no business selling anything that costs more than $10. They do not have the training, the knowledge, or the service capability. Stay away.

I agree that it depends entirely on the store, the manager, and to a lesser degree, the rest of the help. My local HD is above average for both selection and plant care. (Meaning they generally keep them watered and looking reasonably healthy until they are sold.) Labels are another matter. MOST of the time they are accurate, sometimes not so much so. But the Lowe's is worse. I have been in there when fully half of the perennials were sitting under big signs announcing annuals for sale. This included Mexican sage (salvia leucantha) and Mexican heather (the cuphea). Now most of you know that these are grown as perennials down here, though I suppose it is possible they might be annuals way up north. My local Lowe's DOES have a much nicer selection of garden art, pots and birdfeeders, pond supplies and the like. But it's catch as catch can on how the plants might be looking, and as I say, the labels are usually WAY off. The SuperTarget near me does an above average job, too. They insist on labeling ALL salvias as salvia coccinea, even the little squat red bedding salvias (which I think are salvia splendens or maybe elegans?) and are guilty of other mislabeling, too. But their plants usually look really healthy, and they often have good buys on things like salvia guaranitica and other less common annuals and perennials. They have gorgeous begonias (the fancy leaved ones) and last year had fantastic coleus. The perennial kind. Our WalMart needs Dustin Hoffman in his Rainman role out front...he can just substitute WalMart for K-Mart and be right on the money, if you remember the line. I hate that store. Crowded aisles, messy displays and poor labeling...and that's before you get to the Garden Center, which is worse. That about sums it up for the big boxes in my area, as far as I'm concerned. I shop HD & Target for bargains and/or common plants, since I'm in those stores often anyway, and then I hit the local nurseries for more interesting (and more expensive) things. Marcia

Yeah, but obviously C2 and Aura are different animals, different technologies and Aura would have been invented no matter what. They are similar in that they both have special tinters and 16 colorants, but as a painter that did 7 coats of C2 to get complete coverage with a red that would have covered in one coat with Aura, I can say that it really is no contest. The question is how many normal consumers know that or even care? How many painters know or care? Also, I bet that the dried paint film of Aura is much more durable than that of C2 so that is another factor. As a painter I would want to use the paint that is going to hold up the longest (assuming the customer pays for the expensive paint of course). But again, the people that actually give a crap about quality or long lasting paint jobs are so few in numbers, that I'm not sure Aura will ever be a success. I haven't heard of a store around here that is actually profiting from having the stuff on their shelves yet.

The "magazine size" says 15 quart- 15.25 x 12 x 6.25 the specific ones I have; I think I got from Lowes. There is also a taller version & another that's a little wider. Go to Walmart & Target & Lowes; see what they have & make note of prices & sizes. Then figure out how many you need. I already had my fabric in the huge ones- of course I don't see tags on those; it's smaller then what I store bedding in which is 176 quart. I put all off season bedding in them. Then I have 58 quart for clothes; they're usually $5 at Walmart- Walmart also has one that's a few inches taller that I use for daughters hoodies. Another useful cardboard box cost me about $10; it's heavier then the normal moving boxes & it's huge- probably 3ft high by 18 inches square. Those hold a lot if you don't want to buy plastic bins. I bought those from a local moving company. I always store stuff in bins- Christmas; clothes; bedding; so it was worth it to me to buy them anyway because it's something I'll use. Same with the magazine sized one; I store all my old catalogs & magazines I want to save. I also keep painting supplies in the magazine sized one; great for brushes & rollers (not full sized roller handles). There are a million uses for them after you're done moving.