The only problem I have w/ Lowe's or HD they use growers in CA that don't always do so well in the desert and so that the culture doesn't match up …full sun etc. I only buy certain things there because while they do have a liberal return policy…if I commercially install something the labor to replace it ends up being worth buying a locally grown plant that I can pretty much count on. And I pick and choose. I check the sales I buy 1 gallon plants vs. 5 gallon…things like that. The other issue is that some of their growers use peat in their pots which when it dries out does not necessarily hydrate well in the desert. So I will buy things like verbena, succulents, and some desert adapted plants from their. Your county extension may have a plant sale. Usually they do once or twice a year and those plants are often from cuttings etc that master gardeners locally have grown. When we do ours everyone donates a certain number of plant-lings
that they have grown or split or what have you…The prices are usually AMAZING!!!