Am interested in your Pink Climber, Costuluto Genovese & Jellybean - Red & Yellow. I have a nice varied assortment of basils - Italian sourced seed & some Thai as well. I also have Italian parsley (seed from Italy), Italian zucchini, black kale & several varieties of sunflower seed (Baker creek) if any of those interest you... Also have a pretty good collection of saved tomato seed from last year - Bt & permethrin hoping...

I'm not quite on the North Shore (Burlington) so you may have a slightly earlier date than me, but still I wait until at least the middle of may for anything tender--esp. annuals. I have lived my whole life in New England and Memorial Day has always been the quoted date. The only thing I find is that many nurseries push the season early--whether the weather calls for it or not and the pickings can be slim if you wait that long. Often I buy things a little early, but don't put them in the ground until late May. Besides if April is any indicator this year,(with a snow storm coming Thurdsay), the Memorial Day rule for wearing white and planting annuals may hold true! Carolyn

Hope you have found some good heirlooms to try this year. You had a pretty good selection last year. Cherokee Purple is one of my favorites. Sun Gold is the only hybrid I grow. A really neat cherry is Black Cherry. Looks like a mini Cherokee Purple and more prolific for me than Sun Gold. Black Cherry is not an heirloom, but an open pollinated variety. You can save seed from it. It will grow true. For future reference, look at Sandhill Preservation, a family run seed catalogue in Iowa. They are on-line. Don't remember their exact url, but you won't have trouble finding it. Huge tomato section, including some very rare and interesting ones. Do not let anyone tell you we can't grow delicious tomatoes here. We can, but it takes some planning. You need to start your own seed. I start mine in February or March. But I have a mini greenhouse to put them in later in the spring, and not everyone does. Choose the sunniest spots in your garden for the plants. I have large trees around me, so I have to plant in the same places yearly. By all means experiment with walls of water, hoop houses, cloches, wrapping tomato cages with clear plastic, planting near walls or driveways or in pots and hanging baskets. All can be effective. And one of the most important ways to get a big and delicious tomato is to grow one that consistently grows big and delicious. I've traded for some terrific ones in the tomato seed exchange forum here on garden web. Neves Azorean Red grows huge and yummy tomatoes, but I don't think too many catalogues have it yet. This is the latest grower in my collection. Probably over 90 days from transplant. Even with my limited sunshine, my biggest tomato grew over 2 pounds. One that is easier to find and grows around a pound and more for me is Aker's West Virginia. And the stems are huge on this one. Very sturdy plant. You've already tried Cherokee Purple. I have grown it for years because of the taste. A really nifty book with excellent tomato info is Dr. Carolyn J. Male's, "100 Heirloom Tomatoes for the American Garden." She is also a valued contributor here on garden web, mostly in the tomato forum, but sometimes elsewhere. The book has terrific pictures and history of the tomato variety when known. Although I love and appreciate Territorial and Nichol's, I do not rely on them for interesting tomato varieties. I did buy the Beaverlodge Series and Orange King from Territorial this year, just to try them, but they don't have that many interesting tomatoes. That said, I love them for most other seeds and their excellent growers info. Tomato Growers is excellent and so is Baker Heirloom Seeds. I did not care for Siletz and I have not grown Willamette. Most folks in the northwest seem to be under the impression that we can't grow delicious tomatoes, but must grow only the boring earlies. Untrue! (Although it's a lot harder around Seattle and the Pudget sound area.) If I recall correctly, the Delta Farms folks retired. All the best to you for your 2006 garden. Mary

I have a few extras you are welcomed to, if you want to swing down to northern Rhode Island. I can give you one of each of Cherokee Purple, Black Krim, Pruden's Purple, Bloody Butcher, and Aunt Ruby's German Green (and maybe others, I'll have to check). I also have an extra Sweet Quartz (hybrid cherry) for you, and I may send you home with some of the dwarfs I am trying this year (like Lime Green Salad) if I can't fit them in anywhere. I am just now getting them hardened off, and they are still small because I grew them in the cool basement. They also are just starting to get over the purple stem/leaf thing because it has been so cool for them. I expect them to take off just fine, but they are not really ready for full garden sun yet. I am on the Cumberland/Woonsocket line, and just over the MA state line, maybe 10 minutes from the Wrentham Outlets on 495 (exit 15). I would much rather give them to you than to all of my non-gardener friends who say they want them then let them die. Click my name and send an email if you are up for a road trip.