I think it depends on your space, time you'll have before cold weather and then if you know your preference for moist orange flesh or drier white flesh. (I think white yam is drier, I haven't actually grown it...) Since you've already chosen, I'm sure you will learn whether you like your selections in good time. :) I discovered that I prefer drier white fleshed sweet potatoes by accident and am trying to perfect my growing/harvesting/curing with a type called Japanese Red. Cheers!

I haven't ordered yet. Those were the ones I was thinking of ordering. I like the orange flesh, but I haven't tried the white flesh, so maybe one of each is good. Which ones are white?

White yam, White Triumph are white. Also Isis [sp] from Sandhill is a great white...if you like white. I don't because they taste just like white potatoes [Irish]...no taste.

O'Henry is a delicious light yellow variety that is much smoother [not grainy] than Nancy Hall....and a fast grower here in Indiana.I suggest an orange one also for comparison and variety.

I would pass on the Bunch Porto Rico. Small plants yes, not many sweet potatoes beneath (when compared to the Vardman, Beauregard and Georgia Jets I grew last year.

Jay

Beauregard is an excellent choice for northern areas, productive, and very fast to maturity, 90-100 days.

Beauregard is ok. It is the one most often grown commercially. The one found in grocery stores. Centennial has better flavor and the "bunch" types take up less space. Beauregard and Centennial have rampant vines.

I grow Beauregard simply because I started it from a grocery store potato and have kept mine for many years now. It's a good producer, but like Farmerdill says, not necessarily special. I've never tried the others listed here.

I ordered the Vardaman and O'Henry varieties. I'm only planting 1 row that is 10ft long, so I thought I'd plant mostly vardaman. Good thing I'm late, it's going to be in the 50's here all week, yuck! I've had my black plastic down on the row for a month now. I'm ready to go when the slips arrive and the weather cooperates!!

Can you get okinawa purple?

No, unfortunately, most sites were sold out of most varieties, so my choices were limited. Last year I got Georgia Jet variety at Agway, and loved them. Maybe next year I can plan and order earlier and get some different varieties. But, it seems expensive when I'm only planting 10 plants to order a bunch of different varieties.

You may want to check out Sandhill preservation. You will have to order esrly and they ship very late but they do offer small collections. They have the largest selection of sweet potatoes available.

I experimented with a lot of the different kinds here, anything rated much over 110 days didn't really work, small and not fully mature by frost. Since the OP is in MA, that's why I recommended the Beauregard. Not the most exciting choice, but reliable.

I had heard Sandhill ships late so not an option this year but I did read variety choices on their site. But, they are not shipping anymore this year. Vardaman is an early variety (90 days) and bush, so it should be good for my small area. I think I'll just put one O'Henry in just to see how it tastes. Thanks for all the suggestions. Denninmi, I appreciate the suggestion of Beauregard, but I did want to check out something different :)

Vardaman is a lovely sweet that doubles as an edible ornamental because the new leaves come on purple. It's very viney and makes a dense ground cover. The tubers tend to be long and late, very different from Georgia Jet.

Vardaman sets most of its tubers 12 inches out from the plants' crowns. At harvest time, carefully dig from the outside in.