Big Box Store Finds 2022

[Jtee]

[JohnAndSancho]

@Jtee I'd buy. I wasted half a tank of gas to see queens and majesties this weekend. 

[Trustandi]

This year's, Lowe's in my area only has Trachycarpus... Boring...

I hope they will get a second shipment. 

[Chester B]

I don't understand why you would be getting them ahead of us?  Ours usually don't show up until the end of May/early June.  And the last few years Lowes has not gotten any or just a handful.

Edited May 4, 2022 by Chester B

[Allen]

6 minutes ago, Chester B said:

I don't understand why you would be getting them ahead of us?  Ours usually don't show up until the end of May/early June.  And the last few years Lowes has not gotten any or just a handful.

I think many of Lowe's plants are brought in from local or regional growers who sell on a consignment type arrangement but if anyone knows for sure set me straight.

[Collectorpalms]

10 minutes ago, Allen said:

I think many of Lowe's plants are brought in from local or regional growers who sell on a consignment type arrangement but if anyone knows for sure set me straight.

Our Lowes does buy the plants, so they will even send them to clearance to make a profit. Home Depot sells pay by scan. The grower gets paid once the item sells. But once the plants look slightly shabby they get tossed away into the trash, they never have a sale on them. So Home Depot is pretty awful to growers. But Homedepot.com is better for the grower, as they dropship them.

Because our water is so bad, they have a short shelf life. The garden Manager at Lowe's College Station will send things to clearance pretty fast while still looking good. But Bryan Lowe's sends them to clearance when they are already half dead. I only buy plants that have just arrived from the grower and not watered by the Box store yet. Otherwise you get diseased plants.

Edited May 4, 2022 by Collectorpalms

[Collectorpalms]

On 5/1/2022 at 8:46 PM, Jtee said:

Amazing Price.. . the Bottles I just saw were $90 at our Lowe's.

[Jtee]

18 hours ago, Trustandi said:

This year's, Lowe's in my area only has Trachycarpus... Boring...

I hope they will get a second shipment. 

Same here at my local Lowes, the only cold hardy palm we have are windmills and I’m tired of seeing those already.  The past couple years we got other cold hardy palms but not windmills. 

[Collectorpalms]

1 hour ago, Jtee said:

Same here at my local Lowes, the only cold hardy palm we have are windmills and I’m tired of seeing those already.  The past couple years we got other cold hardy palms but not windmills. 

With that blue label those are from the same grower ( California? Arizona?) that Brought in Canaries Butia and California fan Palms to Lowe's in the Austin/San Antonio area last year in April. I wonder if they  just shipped them again this year.....? The Butia at our lowes looks like they are from Florida and are not nearly as nice as those were.

Edited May 4, 2022 by Collectorpalms

[Trustandi]

They are from San Marcos, CA. Last year we got slightly better selection: Washy, Chamaerops, and Trachy. Plus, they got a second shipment around June/July. 

I was hoping they would bring CIDP here... Lol... 

[BeyondTheGarden]

We get those San Marcos Palms in Western Wa too but nothing yet. 

[teddytn]

West Nashville Lowes on Charlotte. Crazy to see these here, but they’ll sell. For the price I can see people buying them as annuals around their pool. 

[JLM]

22 hours ago, teddytn said:

West Nashville Lowes on Charlotte. Crazy to see these here, but they’ll sell. For the price I can see people buying them as annuals around their pool. 

Its painful to see a better selection of palms at a Lowes location in Tennessee than a location in northwest Florida. 

[teddytn]

1 hour ago, JLM said:

Its painful to see a better selection of palms at a Lowes location in Tennessee than a location in northwest Florida. 

Couldn’t agree more. Just give me the blue pot minors, needles, and trachies. Home Depot offered them one year here like 9 or 10 years ago and never again.  

[JLM]

17 minutes ago, teddytn said:

Couldn’t agree more. Just give me the blue pot minors, needles, and trachies. Home Depot offered them one year here like 9 or 10 years ago and never again.  

My Lowe's seems to have a limited stock of Butia, could find if they had any other palms besides majesties. Im hoping that ill be able to make it over to Lowe's tomorrow.

[Manalto]

My local big boxes are a snore when it comes to palms but hope springs eternal; I keep checking. Not a palm of course, but a neighbor has a nice 'Jiangsu' kumquat he says he got from Walmart! I feel as though I missed the golden years of big-box oddities. They only stock reliable sellers these days. But, who knows? Buyers come and go, and a more adventurous one is always a possibility.

[spike]

I can't find a single citrus for sale here in LA, but there's a lot in Palm Springs. I think it's because of the psyllid. From what I've seen, the non-chain supermarkets have much more interesting plants. The local chinese and mexican stores are good.

[Keys6505]

Saw some Spindles for sale for the first time by me (actually a little south of me in Lake Jackson area) at Walmart of all places.

[Chester B]

Saw a half dozen Trachys at Milwaukie, OR Lowes.  $80.  I didn't go up to look at them they were by the front door.  Maybe 3.5-4' Overall height.

[OC2Texaspalmlvr]

On 5/12/2022 at 7:19 PM, Keys6505 said:

Saw some Spindles for sale for the first time by me (actually a little south of me in Lake Jackson area) at Walmart of all places.

That's a deal or a steal , i think these are worth a try in our area for sure. Let me know if you pick a couple up I'll take one too haha 

T J 

[Trustandi]

I just saw this at HD in Bellevue, WA. They only have Trachycarpus, Chamaerops, and Beaucarnea this year, slightly better selection than Lowe's.

[JohnAndSancho]

4 hours ago, OC2Texaspalmlvr said:

That's a deal or a steal , i think these are worth a try in our area for sure. Let me know if you pick a couple up I'll take one too haha 

T J 

Samesies lol. With gas prices I'm hesitant to go any further south than Conroe, and the coolest big box find I've found up here was a seriously sunburned C. Sefrezeii. My selection in Hunts Vegas makes me wanna give up and grow tomatoes. I mail ordered a spindle last year and it's done great as a patio/houseplant hybrid. 

[Fallen Munk]

On 6/8/2022 at 8:28 AM, Chester B said:

Saw a half dozen Trachys at Milwaukie, OR Lowes.  $80.  I didn't go up to look at them they were by the front door.  Maybe 3.5-4' Overall height.

Salem Lowe's has Trachy in two pot sizes.  No other types this year.  I'm guessing they will sit until fall when they put them on clearance.  Was really hoping for some Washy.

[Chester B]

3 hours ago, Fallen Munk said:

Salem Lowe's has Trachy in two pot sizes.  No other types this year.  I'm guessing they will sit until fall when they put them on clearance.  Was really hoping for some Washy.

Whenever palms show up at big box here they’re gone within 1-2 weeks. If see them and think you want one you have to act fast. No such thing as clearance. 
 

I’ll check the Home Depot’s this weekend, they usually have Washies. I’ll post here if I see any. 

Edited June 11, 2022 by Chester B

[Fallen Munk]

1 hour ago, Chester B said:

Whenever palms show up at big box here they’re gone within 1-2 weeks. If see them and think you want one you have to act fast. No such thing as clearance. 
 

I’ll check the Home Depot’s this weekend, they usually have Washies. I’ll post here if I see any. 

Salem Lowe's clearanced theirs out after last years heat wave at $1 each and some were 25 gallon.  There were a bunch of them, probably over a dozen.  I just missed them.  I drove up while a guy was loading them onto a trailer.  The year before, I got a bunch for $20 each at the end of the season.

[amh]

A zone 8 A/B home depot was selling fox tail palms last week. Amazingly they were all sold within a week. 

[Chester B]

Johnson creek/Happy Valley HomeDepot had lots of palms and lots of Washies today. 

[Chester B]

[Chester B]

Picked up a very robusta looking one. 
 

[BeyondTheGarden]

Ryan I picked up 2 of those Robusta's as well, from Chehalis HD.  We'll see how it goes.  Hard to pass up at $25.  

I can't believe they want $40 for the small Ensetes.  

[Chester B]

36 minutes ago, Jesse PNW said:

Ryan I picked up 2 of those Robusta's as well, from Chehalis HD.  We'll see how it goes.  Hard to pass up at $25.  

I can't believe they want $40 for the small Ensetes.  

The small Ensetes in the black nursery pots were $25, plus they had Trachys in smaller pots for $25.  The $60 Trachys were only about 10-15% bigger than the $25 ones - bigger pot, more dirt.

I looked closely at all the Washies and this one had the least amount of fibers, most purple petioles and shiniest fronds.  I looked at photos of the ones that have been surviving in Salem unprotected and they have a lot of purple on them, so tried to match them.  $25 is hard to beat, and for me its not worth it to start them from seed and wait at least 2 years for them to get this big.

[NWpalms@206]

Found some nice “Washingtonia Palm” according to west Seattle orange box. I thought about telling them but figured if you know you know. Actually this is what I think is a hybrid trachy. Looked different from the others and from my other fortunei. Thick, short, stiff fronds, very even gapping, thinking maybe hybrid with waggie or better takil. 60 bucks 15g. Anyones thoughts on it?… on the right in pic. Little windy today, I was watching my fortunei whip all over this thing didn’t budge and it’s fat trunk. Could it be Nainital?

[Chester B]

I bought one kind of like that a few years back. Over time it’s fronds have gotten bigger but not quite the size of a typical fortunei. However it has rapid growth, much faster then the rest of my Trachys. It likes to hold onto all its fronds too. Only time will tell how this one will develop. But I would chalk it up to natural variations in fortunei. 
 

I think there’s a good chance it could have some waggie in it somewhere down the line  

Zero chance it would ever be a rare Trachy at Homedepot. 

[BeyondTheGarden]

@NWpalms@206 that looks a lot like the "Trachycarpus x fortunei" palms that I've bought from Home Depot a few times.    The fronds are a little smaller and stiffer than my nondescript Trachycarpus.  They've always been root-bound and take a full year to get going.  2 of them have 360 degreee fronds.  Once they finallly start growing, the fronds become a little more normal in size, but they still stay pretty stiff and less pendulous.  That's all I've got for observations on this type of palm, which may or may not be what you've got. 

[Fallen Munk]

On 6/11/2022 at 11:14 AM, Chester B said:

Johnson creek/Happy Valley HomeDepot had lots of palms and lots of Washies today. 

I was at the Salem Cherry Av. HD yesterday.  Not a single palm in sight!  Might try the Lancaster one.  I need more washies in my life.

[Chester B]

I planted another one today. It was actually rooted out far better than I was expecting. Lots of fresh white roots but not pot bound at all. 

[Fallen Munk]

14 hours ago, Chester B said:

I planted another one today. It was actually rooted out far better than I was expecting. Lots of fresh white roots but not pot bound at all. 

 

The other Home Depot had some!  I picked up two of them for $25 ea. and repotted right away.  Mine were recently potted up to that size because when I pulled them out of the pots, all of the outer soil fell off exposing the actual size it was before they repotted it.  The original soil was normal potting mix with perlite etc.  The stuff they packed around it when they potted it up was terrible.  Mostly sand with bark, and it smelled bad.  Like a weird chemical smell, not an organic smell.  Like the sand came from somewhere that was polluted or something.  They had one big one for $65 that I almost bought instead of these two.  It probably was about a year and a half older, I'd estimate.  Mine were tagged as robusta.  Probably still likely a hybrid, but they look robusta to me.

[Fusca]

On 6/11/2022 at 4:08 PM, Chester B said:

The $60 Trachys were only about 10-15% bigger than the $25 ones - bigger pot, more dirt.

That's some expensive dirt!  Local big boxes do the same.  I guess they're counting on people not checking and assuming "bigger is always better".

[Manalto]

Maybe I'm naive but I don't think plants recently potted up to a larger size are always an attempt to deceive the customer. It could be that they were pulled from stock prematurely because of demand from the big-box store or just awkward timing. I've also bought plenty of overgrown 5-gallon plants that would comfortably sell as 15s. On the other hand, the price hike for the larger sizes is a compelling motivator, to be sure.

[Fallen Munk]

31 minutes ago, Manalto said:

Maybe I'm naive but I don't think plants recently potted up to a larger size are always an attempt to deceive the customer. It could be that they were pulled from stock prematurely because of demand from the big-box store or just awkward timing. I've also bought plenty of overgrown 5-gallon plants that would comfortably sell as 15s. On the other hand, the price hike for the larger sizes is a compelling motivator, to be sure.

At $25 a palm it doesn't matter one bit to me.  Their margin has to be very slim.    Jubaea on the other hand, when you go from a 5 to a 15 and don't wait for it to root out, that's frustrating.  I don't think it's intentional deceit though.  The grower probably just assumes it will sit there for another year or two before selling and by then it will be rooted out.  But then someone like me comes along and buys it and decides to go straight to ground and all the new soil just falls off a small root ball.  My luck, haha.