On 13 Sep 08, at 15:05, James Waddick wrote: > The big box stores get plants from growers at no cost. They pay only for > those that sell. If they die under the box store care or just get discarded > at the end of the season, the box store has no investment and the grower > takes all the risks. Judging from what I see at the Walmart here, the nurseries fight back by shipping complete crap to Walmart. Summer bedding annuals I see in the one here seem to have just been potted on and aren't at all established in their pots. If what you say is the way Walmart does business here, it's clear that shipping such bad stuff is a way of lowering one's cost of production. The rule at Walmart is that the prices are low, but so is the quality. The situation isn't as dire at Home Depot, but neither is it good there. I bought a pink Styrax japonica and on going to plant it out, discovered it was a balled & burlaped plant that had been pushed into a large pot and backfilled with soil. No feeder roots at all! So beware bargains at big boxes: they may be no bargains at all. -- Rodger Whitlock Victoria, British Columbia, Canada Maritime Zone 8, a cool Mediterranean climate on beautiful Vancouver Island http://maps.google.ca/maps/…