Most of the big box stores and large hardware stores have garden centers. I've tried most of them and had very different experiences. To me, the Kmart garden center is the worst. Now, the plants that they have inside the store are very nice and the partial shade and comfortable temperature seems to suit them. I've bought, like 5 plants that were on display INSIDE the store. Now the outside plants in the screened in Kmart garden center are a sad sight. The garden enter just has netting for a roof, so full sun is beating down on those plants all day. The sprinkler system doesn't hit all the plants, so the ones in the corners that don't get sprayed are dying a slow death. The roses are choked with weeds, but have $20 price tags, as if some lost soul is going to come in and pay $20 for a bucket of weeds with one dying rose in it. I think that Kmart should just shut down that screened in area completely and only sell a few live plants inside the store, like the ones I bought that were healthy. Walmart is in the middle. Decent prices. Most of the plants look healthy. A few of the herbs don't look like they get watered regularly but there are no weeds and there's a roof with skylights so the plants aren't sitting in direct sunlight all day. Now the Home Depot garden center near me is amazing. It's like an amusement park for plant lovers. It's huge and there's a lot to look at. Right now they have a sea of colorful orchids and bromeliads in bloom, and a strategically placed park bench so that you can sit and stare at them and ponder which ones to buy. They have cactuses dyed funky colors like purple. They have air plants growing out of driftwood and seashells, a jungle of exotic tropical plants, colorful blown glass garden ornaments and tiny cactuses in a pot that sticks to your fridge with a magnet. They recently had an amazing Green Friday sale where herb plants were $2 each , begonias were 78 cents ,and Boston ferns were $5. It also helps that they sell cold drinks in the garden center because when you are lugging bags of potting soil in 98 degree heat, you just want a Coke. So what's your favorite garden center that you find good deals at ? Have you been to any crappy ones that were a waste of money?
