Friday, January 13, 2017

Let's visit a Phoenix big box store...

(too much winter! my mind wanders back to Phoenix in October...)

My sister-in-law wanted to meet-up to get my opinion on paint colors and you know I love to check out the plant offerings at the big box stores when I travel (previous posts from Tucson and Berkeley) so off to the H.D. we went...

I love how the ultra-dangerous Opuntia are right out there in front, where people pass by on their way to their cars. Hopefully small kids in Phoenix are smart enough to know hands-off.

That's a fun mix of colors! 5-gallon mixed Cotyledon species $18.98

Always love the barrels.

"Firesticks" 10" pot for $24.98 (doesn't that seem a little pricey?)

Marked as "Gypsum Agave" (Agave gypsophila), not so sure about that one.

This one seems more like it! ($22.98)

Purdy! Agave celsii 'Multicolor' (12" $45.98).

Cotyledon teretifolia, also marked as Finger Aloe — which I thought an odd name (2-gallon $12.98). I'd of bought one of these, if I could have got it home without destroying the chalky beauty.

This guy!

What a bargain that "cactus" is!

Poor thing.

Yes, I almost bought three of them.

Agave angustifolia 'variegata'

Fancy labeling...

Cool plant ($19.98)

Love the Muhly Grass...

The infamous "ass't succulents"

I know I'm focusing on the prices of things, but isn't that why people shop at stores like this? These 8" pots were $18.98. Again I feel like that's a little high...isn't it?

Maybe I just have some misconceived notion that these things should be cheaper here.

Ah, interesting Echium candicans 'Pride of Madeira', that's fun. I should have grabbed one of these and begged my brother to plant it.

Dasylirion wheeleri, 5-gallon (small plants) for $18.98.

And finally Bougainvillea 'Flame' — it's orange! 2.25-gallon for $10.98, I wanted to buy them all...

Weather Diary, January 12: Hi 33, Low 18 / Precip .06, mostly sunny clear skies

All material © 2009-2016 by Loree Bohl for danger garden. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited and just plain rude.

24 comments:

  1. You know I'm usually not one for deserts and cacti, but right now I just want to bask in that warm sunlight. Those two plants do seem oddly expensive. Oh, those orange Bougainvillea!

    I'm glad to see from your weather diary that you didn't get as cold as some other Portland locations. 18 really isn't that bad.

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    1. That 18 was for yesterday. It was 14.9 on my thermometer this morning. Yuck. I'm trying to remember what it felt like to be hot. I know it was warm on this day in Phoenix, 80 something. Gawd I miss that.

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  2. It looks just like the Home Depot I visited last year in Phoenix. Yes, I think the prices are a bit steep (except for the hesperaloes). I wonder if the pricing varies depending on the location? This was in Scottsdale, right?

    If you ever want some candelilla, let me know. I have tons. (I bought it at Lowe's in Scottsdale last year.)

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    1. This was at Bell and Tatum, still technically Phoenix but on the edge of Scottsdale. As for the Candelilla, I'd normally jump at the offer. But feeling a little less enthused for plants in general at the moment, maybe because it's a white wasteland out there?

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  3. Honestly, I'm glad you've mentioned the succulent pricing because I've been mystified... Perennials and shrubs are cheaper - why? I expect to pay 5.98 - 17.98 for them, and that takes it clear up to 5 gal. plants, which I rarely bother with. Cacti and agaves, it's hard to bring them home under $25, $18 at the cheapest. I do haunt those ass't succulents ;-) because that's sometimes a source of good 9.98 plants, healthy and a reasonable size. Still hated having to bring home a pot labelled only "garden agave", though it was obviously a rather pretty A. parryi!

    So if you find out WHY they price them like this, I'd love to know. It can't be because they're hard to grow here :P

    Hope you and your plants get some warmer weather soon! It hurts just thinking about 18...

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    1. Well it's good to know a local feels the same. It's a mystery! Still not warmer here...I'm tempted to start a fire.

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  4. These do seem a little pricey. Our H.D. got a lot of succulents and some cacti this year and it seems like the prices were more reasonable. If you're looking for more hesperaloes, Flower World usually has a nice supply and it seems like the price is quite reasonable.

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    1. It's not that I need any. It's just when they're giving them away...

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  5. The pricing is odd. Twenty five dollars for a relatively small pot of 'Sticks on Fire' would be outrageous anywhere and wholly unexpected at HD. However, as succulents have become more popular, I've noticed that prices have risen even as nursery production volumes have increased. Methinks retailers are taking advantage while they can.

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    1. Well I suppose there is some sense to that. However I swear prices were cheaper at a local nursery just up the street (I didn't take any photos to back up my claim, I was feeling burnt out on the camera by then...it does happen).

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  6. That's quite different from my Big Box stores! Plenty of cool stuff. Interesting and those prices do seem odd to me, both the lows and the highs. But what do I know?

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    1. Ya, we're both just outsiders...in awe of the shiny things in the display cabinet.

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  7. I thought you were going to say you're in Phoenix now. ;-) Yes, too much winter! I hope your big snowfall will melt fast! Thanks for sharing the sunshine and all the fabulous plants from your Phoenix trip!

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    1. I wish I were there now!!! All told it will be about a week before the snow's melted, if the forecast holds as predicted.

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  8. Prices seem on party with those around here. It takes much more growing time to get those 2 gallon size Echeverias to that diameter, but they often have 6 inch/one gallon or 4 inch sizes available too. Buying wholesale 3/4 inch Echeverias, they are still relatively pricey here, much less so if you're in San Diego north County wholesale growers. I remember the days when I'd get these small Echeverias for a dollar each from Gary Hammer's wholesale nursery World Wide Exotics, but that's going back 20 years ago.

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    1. Interesting. Thanks for sharing your experience.

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  9. Love that Bougainvillea 'Flame': you should have got it: it would have looked great sticking out of the snow in your back yard. The 'fire and ice' theme could have warmed your heart :-)

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    1. Except it would be crispy dead in my backyard! (brown, not orange)

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  10. I am still wary of buying at big box stores even though I have found some good buys. I think you need to know what you are doing; at least around here where winter hardiness is critical and I see stuff that I know won't make it. The only boxwoods we've ever lost in 20 years were from HD. Just croaked in a bad winter when all the others bred in Chicago came thought without barely a desiccated leaf. Woke up to 4 degrees Friday morning and 15 degrees today. Supposed to hit 40 by the end of next week just in time for the local women's march.

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    1. Oh gosh, if knowing what would make it though even a typical winter here was key to shopping then many nurseries here are guilty of pushing it...least of all the Big Box stores. I've watched so many people scoop things up and wonder if they have any idea that's just and expensive annual. Sometimes I can't help but ask.

      40, wow! That's gonna feel so warm...

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  11. So the gig with HD pricing : they have excelled at branding themselves as the lowest prices on the planet, and the public believes it. In fact their pricing is variable and often not the lowest. They also make lots of demands on their suppliers, and this pricier stuff might even be a guaranteed sale situation where HD get credit for unsold stock, this they can take the risk on higher profit margins and hope the customer assumes the prices are the lowest.

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  12. I've noticed at our local Home Depot that they tend to sell larger perennials and more annuals per flat, and then charge a higher price than what you'd find for smaller offerings at the typical independent garden center. So you pay more but you get more, at least in theory. My big problem with the Home Depot plants is that they are often in poor condition.

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  13. Instore care, selection and prices vary be HD location, and I wish the 2 store locations closest to Berkeley were as great as the one across the bridge in San Rafael. That store has the highest nursery sales of any HD in all of California, and the quality is consistent too. All thanks to one key person, Charlie Rossi, the nursery manager. He's a brilliant local treasure, and designers here in the Bay Area know it.

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  14. Nice break from reality. This cold snap must be torture for you. Even I have had it and I LOVE snow.

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