I am located SE Michigan. I order most of my plants mail order. However I do visit my Lowes and Home Depot for plants as well. Note that both Lowes and Home Depot are a 20 mile drive for me.

Lowes seems to have more high end plants from First Editions and Monrovia. However, the big difference seems to be local management. The Lowes in Adrian Michigan seems to water their plants daily, even the plants they put on clearance. The Home Depot in Ann Arbor, not so much. And, the two Lowes in Ann Arbor, not so much.

So, I usually frequent Adrian. Note that driving to Adrian or Ann Arbor is about 20 miles. Just different directions.

Anyone care to share opinions on big box stores?

I have 4 HDs and 2 Lowes within 10 to 15 minutes. I agree the Lowes take better care of their plants and are well watered. Th HDs are hit or miss but sometimes I find great plants.

I thought in spring Lowes was getting more interesting plants there since they had saucy salvia. Since mid july though seems like they are just back to basic plants here.

I ordered and picked up some silverberry shrubs from WalMart, sold by WalMart. Turned out to be very nice plants, shipped fast, at a good price. I'm going to do that again this year as I need some ligustrum to replace some Leyland cypress loses on a fence line.

I have two Begonia maculatas from a Lowes in a neighboring town. They had them on clearance a while back. One was in great shape. The other had some crispy leaves, but it's slowly recovering with new healthier leaves. I found a nice bromeliad on clearance the same day. I know someone who found a black ZZ plant at the same Lowes as well.

I've found some nice little cactuses in my local Walmart too. Some Mammillaria bocasanas that have been blooming regularly all summer. A couple other types of Mammillarias that have all been doing great. An Opuntia macrocentra (one of my favorites, and I'd only ever seen a single one for sale before at a local nursery, which I've had for a few years now. Hadn't seen them since except for the Walmart specimen). And a huge Maranta.

So... while not my first choice for plant shopping, I've found some really nice plants in big box stores by fluke. They've all been doing wonderfully.