I shopped at Lowe's and Home Depot for plants and outdoor essentials. The winner earned my loyalty all summer long.

One of my favorite things to plant in Florida's warmer months is a collection of herbs and vegetables, so I looked for those in both stores first.

Both stores had Bonnie plants and had them on sale, but Lowe's had a better deal. At Home Depot, three plants were on sale for $12, but at Lowe's, three plants were on sale for $10.

This summer, I'm hoping to plant a few robust tomato plants in containers on my back patio, so I looked at the options at both stores.

At Home Depot, large tomato plants were $20 each, but at Lowe's they were on sale at two plants for $30, making each just $15.

This seemed like a pretty great deal to me, especially since the Florida heat can be hard on plants. It's nice to find them on sale just in case the worst happens once you get them home.

At the entrance to Home Depot's garden center, there were lots of different varieties of potting soil, top soil, mulch, and other garden needs stacked up for the taking.

Lots of different types of soil were on sale, and I liked that most brands were situated right up front, where it'd be easy to pull up and load the heavy bags into my car.

Lowe's kept most of its soil and mulch toward the back of the garden center. Still, there were a few brands that were on sale positioned up at the front for easy loading.

If I planned to buy soil at Lowe's, I'd probably choose whatever was on sale and displayed at the front of the garden center to keep things easy.

This year, we have plans to replace our patio furniture, so I was excited to shop for things like outdoor chairs and backyard dining tables at both stores.

There weren't many pieces of outdoor furniture on display at Home Depot, though. Although I passed a big section of grills, there were only a few dining tables and one chair and umbrella display assembled for customers to look at.

I find it tough to choose patio furniture without seeing it fully assembled, so I was disappointed.

At Lowe's, there were early holiday sales going on on patio furniture, and tons of different chairs, tables, umbrellas, and fire pits were assembled and on display.

It's always great to see these kinds of items fully assembled, so I appreciated the wide variety shown in this section.

Lowe's was the clear winner for me in this department.

Lots of end caps in Lowe's garden center were turned into displays of DIY raised gardens or stone flower beds.

As someone who loves to walk through a garden center and dream of tasks I can take on in my own backyard, I loved seeing the inspiration sprinkled throughout the area. At Home Depot, there weren't any DIY projects modeled.

Instead, Home Depot was well-stocked with pre-potted arrangements of succulents and flowers.

I love perusing the clearance cart in the back of Lowe's garden center. These carts can be tough to find, but they're often filled with discounted plants that just need a bit of TLC to flourish.

Some of the most prosperous plants in our yard have come from a Lowe's clearance rack and have cost just a few dollars. I get a lot of satisfaction out of rehabilitating a plant that would have otherwise dried up, so this section is one of my favorites.

I didn't find any clearance plant section at Home Depot, so this seems to be a special perk of hitting Lowe's garden centers.

Lowe's had a lot more terracotta pots on display than Home Depot. Both stores had a big variety of pots, from plastic pots with built-in drains to whiskey barrels for making larger flower-bed displays.

Home Depot seemed to have more cute, patterned ceramic pots than Lowe's, but the selection at both was plentiful.

Lowe's also had a few different sections with signs indicating which plants would perform exceptionally well in Florida, where I live.

I'm not sure if local recommendations are in every Lowe's location, but I loved this section. Growing plants in the Sunshine State can be tough, especially with brutal temperatures, summer thunderstorms, and hurricane season, so it's nice to have experts pick out plants made just for our climate.

I couldn't find a "Florida" plants section at Home Depot.

I may not be a suburban woman in my 60s, but I definitely preferred Lowe's to Home Depot for my summer outdoor and garden shopping needs.

In my opinion, Lowe's plant selection just seemed better, from specialty blooms that excel in Florida to citrus trees to clearance finds begging for a loving home.

Both stores are about the same driving distance from me, but I'd return to Lowe's over Home Depot this summer for the deals on plants and the impressive displays of outdoor furniture.

Plus, Lowe's had many inspirational DIY projects on display that made me want to buy everything from stone pavers to raised beds to beautify my outdoor space.

Lowe's felt more set up for beginner gardeners than Home Depot with its helpful signs and product displays, and I'll absolutely return there throughout the summer for my outdoor and gardening needs.