Now, there's a debate! Not that I know anything about potatoes, but I have been witness to generations of just such discussions around dinner tables among, mainly, farming folk who are prepared to defend their particular choices of tatties with a real passion.
So, I will watch this one with interest!

Bulba and I like waxy potatoes and Desiree fits the bill nicely, we also like Robinta and Maris Baird.

I am a real potato lover and would always choose to plant heritage varieties where possible but I have found some of the more modern or recent introductions to my taste. If you have a look at 'Pennard Plants' website they have a list of potato days where you can buy single potatoes or multiples of a variety and as many varieties as you have room for. Potatoes are as Mg says down to personal taste. There are several sites where you can have a look at the descriptions of varieties available before going along to a potato day with a list of which to buy and how many. I grow in pots so I don't want huge numbers of a single variety. I am also happy with quite modest results. If I get 7 potatoes from each seed planted I'm happy.
http://www.potatoday.org/potatodays.htm have a look at this website to find something near you.

Was surprised and pleased to find both heritage and organic seed potatoes in the local GC today. We have all we need but was tempted by Shetland Black!

Sutton's foremost is better than rocket, though I found both a little too watery. My favourite early potatoes are Pink Apple Fir or Charlotte - lovely for steaming and great flavour. Best main crop for roasting, chipping, mash is Rooster. Rooster keep well too, either in-situ after cutting down their leaf, or in a 'bin' with layers of soil between.

I grew Rocket two years ago but nobody liked them. And when I tried boiling them in the microwave, they exploded.
I grew Desiree last year - not too bad, but not nice enough to grow them again.
I'm trying Pentland Javelin this year.

Some of the garden centres are now selling single potatoes. If you only need a few it is better to buy fresh seed than to try growing supermarket left overs from the bottom of your veg basket. They may grow for you but you might be storing up problems for later, in the soil, and they are often treated with growth retardant to stop them sprouting before we eat them. If you can find a friend who has grown some nice potatoes try and swap with them. Shetland Black is a lovely potato Mg. It is a floury one though and if you prefer waxy you might not like it. Its a second early. It has a purply coloured skin with white flesh with a blue line running round it for the length of the potato.

Lady Crystl is a nice 3waxy early that I tried for the first time last year and am going to plant again. I find Pink Fir Apple isn't ready until the first earlies are nearly done. Agree Pink fir Apple is a lovely smooth potato but it needs digging fairly young as it goes floury if left too long.

The label said Shetland Black was a floury potato and that decided me against Scotsgran, but I 'was' tempted.

I like Pink Fir Apple Steragram but when I recommended it to some 'real' veg growers they laughed and said plant one and have them for life. I did not have that problem but apparently they are of a type that hangs around and you can get a second crop from the smallest potatoes which you miss when harvesting. I like that you do not need to peel them, just wash the earth off them and cook very gently or they will disintegrate. You don't need to cook even sized PFA potatoes either all the bits can go in together regardless of size. I thought that might be how you would feel Mg.

We like pink fir apple too! Best to steam from my experience...

Hywel - hello! I had forgotten about pentland javelin!!! Thank you for the reminder, now I need to create some space or pots and bags, buy the seed potatoes and drool for a couple of months.

True, Scotsgran, I did get several "volunteers" last year, but they cropped well so no complaints there.

Something for nothing is always sweet Steragram. For anyone interested I have added a blog today on the harvest of potatoes which I planted in my April 2011 blog.

In my experience it pays to look round at other gardens or allotments to see what is growing best in your area. M. G and Scotsgran have the benefit of living in an area not badly affected by the wind. Here in the S. E. the SW winds bring blight etc. to us. In Scotland some of the best potato seeds are grown. The Rocket I grew last year gave us a good crop, but many were split and cracked through lack of steady rainfall. Through the summer Charlotte and Casablanca were the best we've grown. Last year slugs moved in before harvesting, left in potatoes will make rotation longer in open ground. Always change the earth in your bins for next years crop. The old earth can be used in hanging baskets and flower troughs.

Oh Doctorbob, how wrong you are. We live in windy corner. There is nothing between us and the nearest hills 12 miles away. In between is flat and the wind blows here from east or west most days. Most of the trees in our garden even the ones in pots lean dramatically towards the east, the west being the dominant direction from which it comes.

Gets pretty windy here too...

Yes ladies I realise that, strong to gale force winds from the atlantic with nothing to stop them for 5000 miles, but apart from the salt they are clean, low growing crops like potatoes thrive, seaweed was often used as compost. Tamarisk makes a good windbreak without growing out of hand. I would have loved to have had the pleasure of working in your area.

Um Moray doesn't get Atlantic winds Dr Bob - at least not usually :-) Our climate has changed so much over the past 30 years, we never used to get these gale force winds nor the rain plumps we now get.