"Chookie" wrote in message
"Farm1" please@askifyouwannaknow wrote:

Mixed Heirlooms from Diggers. Be interesting to see if the
orange
one comes
up.

Can you report back on how these go please? I think we all should
do
more of that here on a regular basis as sometimes it's really hard
to
know which producers sell good seed and which regions they do well
in.

Sure. I find that because Diggers are Victorian, they think in
terms of
Mediterranean climate patterns. My heat and cool zone numbers per
Diggers
theoretically allow me to plant peonies, for example -- but no, they
don't
cope with our humid summers.

It could perhaps be more to do with Sydney's lack of cold winters even
if they do succumb in the heat of summer???? Britain can be
incredibly humid (25 degrees there is worse than 40 here in inland NSW
because of the disgusting humidity) and they do well there.

I can grow brilliant paeony plants but I can't get the *******s to
flower and believe me, I've tried everything. Plant shallow, plant
deep, lots of manure, less manure, winter watering, little watering
(same for summer) lots of lime, no lime. I am so frustrated with
these sodding things.

I've seen stunnign ones half an hours drive from here, looking
neglected as did the rest of the garden and I've seen stunning oens
down at Nimmitabel but I just can't do it. Grrrrrrrr.

Sometimes I find the packet planting guide a bit
out, but I generally find their seeds reliable.

The only thing I object to about Diggers is the need to be a
subscriber/member. I love Heronswood but can't imagine living in such
a fishbowl environment and I've always found anythign I get from them
to be good quality too..

Not many people think that - I do too but it's the same with poor
old
parsnips which most people hate. Fresh parsnip is devine
(salivate,
salivate).

I have them coming up by themselves now! Yum!

Envy, envy!