Smaller Plants for Containers

A good choice for growing in 10 to 15 gallon containers. Some are small enough to grow in a 5 gallon container including Lime Green Salad, Red Robin and Sophie's Choice

Black Krim ($4.95) 75 days (E)

This much sought after Russian variety is unique and unforgettable, originally from Krim on the Black Sea in the former Soviet Union, Black Krim has a superb smoky sweetness with a delicate lingering touch of tang in a 4-6" slightly flattened, mahogany-colored fruit with lovely, deep green shoulders. Setting fruit at higher temperatures, it is superb and very easy to grow. (It is not the same variety as Noir de Crimeé).

Bisignano #2 ($4.95) (E) (P-S) 75 days. This superior old-fashioned Italian tomato is a family favorite of the wonderful tomato loving Bisignano family of New York, NY. Known for its outstanding rich flavor, perfect for fresh eating, fabulous for sauce, Bisignano produces 3 distinctly different medium-sized bright red fruit shapes on each plant: plums, pears, and perfectly round fruits. Extremely productive, it's a classic garden staple and a top favorite of tomato growers worldwide.

Early Wonder ($4.95) 50-55 days. (EE) (SM) This extra-early maturing and compact plant variety yields an abundant crop of round, dark-pink, 2 ounce marvelously flavored fruit. Perfect for gardeners in shorter season growing climates. Early Wonder is a small plant, the fruits are delicious and the production is very high.

New for 2008! Elfin (Grape) ($4.95) 60 days. (EE) (SM) Elfin is a marvelous ¾” grape tomato borne on a small bushy plant which just loads up with sweet, bright red delicious fruits which can be plum-shaped or pear-shaped on the same plant. This small plant is just great for containers or right in your garden. Shaped like the original grape tomato, the fruits are superbly flavorful with a nice crisp pop when you bite into them.

Gardener's Delight (AKA Sugar Lump)($4.95) (VE) (SM) (Ch) 65 days. You'll get an amazingly heavy production of precious sparkling-red 1" cherry tomatoes, which are loaded with sugary sweet tomato flavor. A special treat for tomato fans of all ages for eating right from the vine or in salads if they ever make it into the house. Gardener's Delight is also called 'Sugar Lump' for a very good reason.

New for 2008! Green Grape ($5.25) 60 days. (SM) These 1" by 1 ½" ripe fruits are yellow-green with an amber blush on the blossom end, and lovely translucent pale-green on the inside growing on a small yet very prolific plant. After tasting it again at TomatoFest this year I decided to include it on the list for 2008. You will love it.

This compact plant was developed by Tom Wagner who crossed Yellow Pear with Evergreen. Its fruit has become wildly popular in restaurants and markets because of its unique and very elaborate flavor, a certain tanginess balanced with just the perfect touch of sweetness, stunning beauty and marvelous flavor--Green Grape really stands out as great choice for the discerning tomato maniac.

Green Sausage ($4.95) (D) (VE) (SM) 65 days. Look at this gorgeous fruit! Easy to grow and early ripening, its resplendent shape, sparkling green and amber color and tantalizing taste have made Green Sausage one of the most sought after tomatoes this season and a huge favorite at Farmer's Markets. Very prolific, Green Sausage is a small plant and produces an early, abundant harvest of 4" long fruits in clusters of 6 or 7 fruits. With flavor similar to Green Zebra but with a meatier flesh, it is tangy, rich, and juicy and sweet--just out of this world. This photograph was taken by my friend Cynthia Geske, grower extraordinaire and owner of Love Apple Farm in Ben Lomond, California. www.loveapplefarm.biz

Japanese Black Trifele ($5.25) (SM) 80 days. Japanese Black Trifele, which translates to truffle, is a big juicy 8-10 ounce pear-shaped, deep purple-black tomato with pretty green shoulders. In Russia the Trifele varieties of tomatoes--of which there are several colors--are highly prized and command high prices. Growing on a short potato-leafed plant, it's the size and shape of a Bartlett pear and among the darkest hued and finest flavored of the black tomatoes. The skin is smooth and crack resistant and production is huge. Flavor is deep, chocolaty, smoky and rich, just wonderful.

Lemon Boy ($4.95) (H) (E) 72 days. A perfect jewel. Lemon Boy is sunshine yellow, perfectly round and occasionally lemon-shaped, from 6-10 oz. with a rich satisfying flavor, bright, smooth, juicy, luscious and very prolific growing on a smaller plant. Slightly tangy, low-acid, very sweet with lingering overtones of citrus. Bountiful on the vine, easy to grow, beautiful and all around winner--one of my top 5 favorite hybrids. So prolific, you will be giving fruit to your friends and neighbors.

Lime Green Salad ($4.95) (VSM) (D) (E) 52 days. This tomato has become one of my passions. I grew only one Lime Green Salad plant the first season and wish I'd grown10.

This petite plant, about 18 to 20" tall--great for small containers like 2 to 5 gallons, or in your main garden, produces early abundant harvests of luscious tangy-sweet 3 to 4 oz. round lime-green tomatoes which literally burst with intricate, sweet refreshing citrusy flavors when you bite into them. The flesh inside is a gorgeous chartreuse, juicy...the flavor lingers. Unforgettable.

Martino's Roma (D) ($4.95) (P-S) (E) (SM) 75 days. This extremely prolific plant produces a huge yield--the fruit loads up in amazing quantities on a small 3 foot plant. Its yummy crop of 3" red pear-shaped Roma tomatoes that are great for cooking, and sweet and luscious enough to enjoy fresh right out of your hand. Very meaty with few seeds, highly productive, marvelous for canning, and for your favorite tomato sauce recipe. The flavor intensifies exponentially during cooking.

New for 2008! New Big Dwarf ($4.95) 85 days. This delicious old time fruit, from 1915, produces lots of big, yummy, one lb. deep pink tomatoes on little 2 to 3 ft. short bushy plants. A cross of many varieties including Ponderosa and Dwarf Champion, this little plant is perfect for growing in containers on the patio or right in your garden. (Developed by S.M. Isbell and Co.) Here are notes from a catalog of 1915, "Isbell's New Big Dwarf is so distinct and so meritorious that we are proud to offer it to tomato lovers of America and the world. We earnestly hope everyone who receives our catalogue will plant this grand new sort in 1915." More than 90 years later, we think you will agree!

New for 2008! New Yorker ($4.95) 62 days (SM) (D) This compact, bush-like plant produces lots of round, bright red 4 to 6 ounce meaty, delicious, fruits which are perfect for salads, fresh eating and being a determinate variety, one of the best choices for canning. Setting fruit well in cold climates, New Yorker is perfect for short season Northeastern climates.

Porter's Dark Cherry ($4.95) (Ch) (E) (SM) 68 days. This is such a fine tomato! Produces early, is abundant on the vine in charming clusters of 6 to 8. Small and gem-like, 1" long grape type fruits in an oblong oval shape, with a deep pink hue, it is becoming a much sought after favorite for discriminating tomato maniacs nationwide because the flavor is complex, rich and fabulous--just ambrosial. One of the prettiest tomatoes I've ever seen, marvelous in salads, snacking, and a brave plant that stands up extremely well to hot weather.

Red Robin ($4.95) (VSM) 52 days. This tiny 10"-12" tall plant produces masses of 1" sweet, delicious cherry tomatoes. A dwarf heirloom variety, Red Robin is perfect for patio, window box and hanging containers. I took this photograph at sunset; the golden glow is the setting sun shining on the bright red fruits.

Rutgers ($4.95) (D) (E) (SM) 75 days. Because of so many requests from folks who grew this wonderful tomato long ago, or remember it from their family gardens, we are offering Rutgers again. A smaller type plant, about 5 feet tall, produces deep dark fruits about 8 ounces, deepest red inside and out, abundant on the vine, juicy and delicious with terrific old-time tomato flavor, this classic disease resistant fruit, developed in 1922, is being rediscovered by gardeners everywhere. My grandma grew it in the 1950's when I was little. Here's to you, Grandma Stevens.

Sophie's Choice ($4.95) 50 days. (D) (VSM) (EE) From Canada, this succulent family heirloom is unique among the super-early producing plants. The slightly flattened round red fruits are borne in clusters of 3, quite large for an early bearer, with firm-when-ripe great flavored fruits from 6 to 8 oz. Sophie's Choice is a very small compact determinate plant.

This little shrub of a plant reaches about 18" tall and bears loads of delicious tomatoes. It tends to fall over with its heavy fruit burden, so be sure to give it some support. With its very high fruit production, tenacious growth habit and sweet refreshing taste, it's a fun and rewarding plant to grow. Very disease resistant, it is one tomato plant which requires more water than other varieties during early growth.

Sweet Baby Girl $4.95) (H) (SM) (Ch) (VE) 60 days. This vigorous little hybrid plant from Holland has long clusters of sweet, flavorful dark red 1 oz. cherry tomatoes, producing abundantly on small, compact yet indeterminate plants. Its easy-to-pick fruit is produced all season long.

Sweet Baby Girl's long shelf-life, marvelous taste and disease resistance have made it a new favorite for fitting into smaller gardens and producing bountiful bunches of fruit right up until first frost in containers and in the garden. Kids of all ages love it. Right after shooting this photograph of some of the 150 we picked on February 8th, my employees and I ate the fruits. Every single one.

New for 2008! Sweet Israeli ($4.95) 64 days. (SM) From Israel, this delightful, full flavored 2" plum tomato grows on a small determinate plant and produces some of the finest tomatoes I've ever tasted. Perfect for container growing or in the main garden, these bright red luscious fruits are a treat for the whole family. Growing in marvelous abundance, this brave little bush type plant produces lots of delicious fruits in all climates for fresh eating, cooking and canning. A delight!

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