In the past I have e-mailed White Flower Farm about wrong photos of tomato varieties and misrepresentation of descriptions.The most amusing wrong one was the tomato variety Dr. Carolyn, which someone named for me,the person.

I have never referred anyone to WFF for tomato plants when there are much bette rplaces to buy plants.

And yes, I do understgand that yourconcern is about Dina asit being the F1 hybrid or an OP derivative.I fit were me, I just wouldn't bother with it b'c I don't think you're going to get a straight answer, similar to Burpee who also have problems giving straight answes about some tomato varieties they offer..

Carolyn

sneezer - if I understand your post correctly you consider this particular source to be respected or admired (cachet), one to be believed without question, right? Why? It isn't a commonly held opinion. Check out all the comments on them at The Garden Watchdog.

Dave

Dave, WFF isn't that far from me in CT and it has always been known as a high price, exclusive source for many, especially perennials , trees, and so much more.

IMO, it's a destination place for those with money. I'm not saying they don't have some exclusive items and I'm not saying that the grounds are meticulously maintained, but what I am saying is that WFF has changed through the years, maintining the high price exclusivity but losing some integrity as to what they sell.

The wife of my orthopedic surgeon bought several tomato plants there two years ago and when Richard, my ortho person, told me, I said for heavens sake let me give you some seeds for some great vatrieties, I did, but couldn ' tkeep my appt for last summer b'c the big storm Sandy intervened, but when I see him this summer I'll have to ask if he ever sowed the seed or had one of his staff do so.

And yes, he knew I wrote a book about heirloom tomatoes and asked if I would autograph one for him, but that was back in 2004 when I fell.

Carolyn

Yes, I understand that Carolyn but it has been fairly common knowledge on the various forums, including our own Rate and Review Vendors and those we can't link here, that their focus on quality, veracity in advertising, online and mail-orders, and customer service has declined sharply over that past several years.

Their focus seems to have shifted to their tourist attraction business and the gardening elite.

Personally, I have never dealt with them. No need to. But as with Burpee, given all the negative reviews, I am discouraged when some in the gardening community continue to regard them as some sort of superior source.

Dave

Well, I stand corrected. Unfortunately, I am not always as
well informed as I would like to be and as such I often tend
to (at least tentatively) accept the advertising hype.

WFF certainly presents themselves as a "premium" nursery, so
I appreciate the counsel from both of you. Actually, I should
have known when they took over Shepherd Seeds.

Anyway, I now think that if they are not deliberately
misrepresenting this item, they are skating awfully close.
Mention of "This hybrid" for a plant that they will not confirm
really is the genuine hybrid is pretty sleazy.

Thanks for your responses.

No problem sneezer, we all buy into hype now and then. :) I'd encourage you to avoid doing the same thing with Dona as a variety.

A "premium" variety? Perhaps to some but equally as many find it only "good" or even "average". It isn't necessarily in the Top 100 on the hit parade.

Dave

Sneezer, I'm not so sure WFF took over Shepherd's Seeds, it could have been the other way around in that she always considered herelf as a so called premium seller and wanted in..And she too misrepresented a couple of pepper varieties as being hybrids when they were actually OP's

But you'll notice how quickly Renee bailed out of there and went back, not to her old format, but still selling seeds, so there couldn't have been anything in any contract that forbade her from doing so.

Carolyn

@carolyn - Interesting. I knew only that they are now
"associated". The details of any contract wouldn't be of much
interest to me and I do still buy from her "new" company
without feeling taken. Moreover, I take misrepresentation to be
a deliberately dishonest act, not an oversight or mistake.

@digdirt - Sorry, Dave, about that one but I do disagree. Not
about any "premium" status as I don't care about that but I
have been growing this variety for 15 years or more. If you
want to call it hype you might well call me the perp and I
wouldn't dispute you. I find the flavor superior to a number
of other fine varieties that I have compared it to. So do many
others.
What bothers me some though is that so many who rate
Dona F1 as 'only "good" or even "average"' turn out to have
tasted only one of the many OP versions and have no
awareness that there even is any other. The result of more
hype on the part of outfits like Tomatofest (and others).
Anyway, I staunchly defend your right to like something
else. If I have any objective in all this, it would be only that
I would like to see Dona F1 seeds and plants be more
readily available in this country so others could try them,
if they wish, and decide for themselves ( and incidentally so
I could get them more easily myself). Let's agree to disagree.

No problem as we all have different taste buds and mine are old and not all that discriminating.

Actually I do like Dona so we can agree on that. But I also like hundreds of other OPs. I guess what I'm saying is that it isn't the "be all and end all" of tomatoes for me so if it wasn't available I'd still survive just fine. :)

Dave

Fair enough. And I too like many others. I just wish I had the
energy to grow more of them.

Sneezer, I did buy F1 seeds of both Dona and Carmello , the two French hybrids,from Renee's original site.

At the time Ithought they were good, nothing special and since then there are several other hybrids that 've grown that I think are much better.

Since others are getting apparently true F1 seedsof Dona from France, it seems to me that WFF could do so as well.

But I know the frustrating part is that they don't get back to you and confirm that they bought the seeds in France

And so it goes. ( smile)

Carolyn

Company representative comment on February 22, 2013:
On Feb 22, 2013 10:31 AM, White Flower Farm responded with:

We apologize for the delay in responding to your posting and your email regarding the 'Dona' tomato. We have forwarded your comments to our Marketing Department and are waiting for their response.

Sincerely,
White Flower Farm Customer Service

Dunno, I did hit them pretty hard and in a couple of places.
We'll see what the MD answer is.

We have heard back from our Marketing Department and our current supplier of the 'Dona' tomato is supplying us with the open-pollinated seed, so it is not the true F1 hybrid.
We thank you for bringing this to our attention and our web copy will be adjusted accordingly.We will continue in our on-going efforts to search for a supplier of the true F1 hybrid seed.
Sincerely,
White Flower Farm Customer Service

They did change the copy. One word, the second, was changed
from "hybrid" to "variety". The stuff about uncompromising
flavor and quality standards remains the same.

Oh well!

Sneezer, tell them that for $100 you'll tell them where they can buy seeds for the F1 Dona.LOL

Carolyn, and then split the money with me for my dark chocolate budget since I am the first to suggest to you to tell them that. Wait, up it to $200 so be both get $100. LOL Wait a bit more, give them a wee hint by saying that you just love omlette avec jambon. ( smile)

Sorry, Carolyn, I was too dumb to think of that and I've
already told them. Let's see if they have the sense to
take advantage of it. Actually, I don't know what their sales
would be; I guess about the same as now but at least it
would be an honest deal and probably make them look
a little better. As in "cachet".

FYI, the source I revealed is www.ducrettet.com

Oh, and if you like I could send you some dark chocolate!!
Too bad about the omelettes, though. I already get those
from eggs that I buy at one of the local farm markets.
Every time I go there the chickens tell me, "Those eggs
were mine. Enjoy, enjoy".