BD It's my understanding that onion SETS don't do as well as onion transplants, often producing very small onions, sometimes large ones, depending on several factors. All the "growing onions" sites say to plant the sets or transplants in the soil, though not very deep. [Not on top of the soil.] 1" deep for transplants is recommended, and maybe someone else who plants sets can give you a depth for them. Some people remove the soil around the tops of onions after a while to keep an eye on how large they grow, so I don't think FT planted his on top of the soil, but he'll have to answer you himself!

In a effort to be clear I have rewritten my post about Dr Ingrams. I have used contemporary language to the best of my ability. If there are still questions of what I am saying I will attempt to try again... Im tired of people messing with Dr Elaine R. Ingrams. Dr Ingrams be working hard, real hard. Dr Ingrams got courage and character just like Superman. Dr Ingrams, that girl know about her compost tea (dirt too!), she in the front row (snap) sitting on the corner. Dr Ingrams was telling people to geek up their compost tea. Somebody found out she was doing wrong and put it in the funny papers. You know everybody seen that! Dr Ingrams jumped up and told everybody they were right with the quickness. She covered that butt and dont care what nobody say behind her back. People be talking about they be calling Dr Ingrams all the time. I bet they be calling her when she get off work too, and she talk to them anyway (hmmph). I am NOT having no talking about Dr Elaine R. Ingrams behind her back just so you can stay stuck on stupid. Dr Ingrams is a real nice lady and helps everybody, even if they talk funny to her. Dr Ingrams take them just like they come, she dont pick and choose. If you wants to talk about somebody with me you best be picking somebody else. If not, you can talk to the hand Blutranes

Hi Guys, I am another unfortunate person with a Heliconia craving in a bloody cold area. I have the same climate as coastal Sydney. I'm at the coast of Taree NSW and have below 2C-3C throughout the winter with the odd -1C. Also we have to watch our summers heatwaves with peaks of 47C (last Tuesday). Heliconias are possible, but only with a lot of effort. Protect your plant from cold wind as this can chill the stem causing the plant to die back to the ground. They may handle the air temperature, but wind chill will get them every time. Also Heliconias in our area must have excellent drainage. We are a winter rain area and this is dangerous for Heliconias. I've gone through 40 varieties to find the best ones for me. CoralCoast_Tropicals is right; H. subulata, H. spissa and H. schiedeana are the easiest. They are smaller and easier to protect from strong winds. H. subulata can take the most exposure, but H. schiedeana is supposed to be the most cold tolerant even taking light frost???(IÂve not tested this). Another excellent Heliconia and my favourite is Heliconia bourgaeana cv Hot Pink. I've had mine in the ground for 4 year. It has flowered as far south as Gosford that I know off. Also Heliconia latispatha cv. Orange gyro is pretty tough and very easy to flower. If you can handle spotty leaves then Heliconia rostrata is working out. I've talked to someone who flowered it in Ulladulla south coast NSW. It works because for us southerner it grows to only 1.5m high and so is easy to put in the right microclimate. The leaves will be spotty through the winter, but the plants flowers fairly reliably in SydneyÂs Northern Beaches. In flower it is stunning and worth the effort. Scot what was the variety that you bought?

Hi I grow rostrata,I'm in Palm beach county, cold has not been much of a problem except in 09 when it dropped to 26 for a couple of hours , Even in that case they just went dormant and regrew when the weather stabilized Originally I grew them in the GH where they promptly grew through the roof lol I now mostly grow them in a tree fern bed. The big problems with them has been wind the flowers are so heavy they ge knocked down easily so I stake them, Second problem is the lousy soil they do 100 times better in enriched soil with LOTS of water. If you want a bed of them I'd dig out an area enrich the soil and provide some type of support They don't seem to need full sun but do flower better with at least 4 hours Might mention that they get large approaching 20 feet if happy so plan on that As tropic mentioned they will do well in a large pot so would allow you to protect then as necessary?? I know it gets colder and for longer duration in your area so can't say how much of a factor that would be but I think youd be okay unless we get some more "Polar vortexes"?? lol Remember when they called them "cold fronts"?? They weren't nearly as severe then?? lol