Everyone has different tastes so I'm sure you'll get a lot of responses. At our greenhouse we have 25-35 types of heirloom plants every year. The big sellers are done every year and we add additional ones for people to try. Here are a few you might want to consider:

Bloody Butcher
Brandywine
Georgia Streak
Hillbilly
Mortgage Lifter
Old German
Orange Oxheart
Pineapple
Riesentraube
White Queen

Another couple of places to check out are:

www.totallytomato.com

http://www.heirloomseeds.com/

Regards,

Tom

Judith, are you talking about buying plants or buying seeds and raising your own plants?

That just isn't clear to me from your above post. ( smile)

Carolyn

There are many, many "favorite tomato" discussions here (a search will pull them together for you if interested) and 2 heirloom types that consistently come up on lists are Brandywine Red and Mortgage Lifter, as Tom suggested.

Opalka, a roma paste type, is another favorite here and on the Gardening in Texas forum I found this discussion (linked below) with several good suggestions.

Nice gift idea. ;)

Dave

Here is a link that might be useful: Tomatoes in Texas

Judith, I also grow Heirloom/OP plants and some of my most popular plants are:
German Johnson
Brandywine
Stupice
Black from Tula
Black Krim

Great gift Idea, Glenn

Judith, thatÂs an admirable idea!

Others can suggest East Texas-specific and heirloom varieties. Here are 5 hybrids that I have ordered from TTomatoes in the past. They have done well in my garden and I believe should be consistently good most anywhere in the country.

Large
Big Beef
Original Goliath

Cherry
SunSugar
Super Suncherry

Patio
Sweet Baby Girl

And, maybe a gift certificate so that your friend can explore the opportunities and purchase what he thinks heÂll like.

Steve

Thanks all for the great suggestions! Gene is going to grow some from seed and wants about 6-8 varieties to try. I am shopping via mail this year, had knee surgery a week ago so thought this might be a welcome and easy gift for me. I am going to let him look at the list, pick what he wants, I will order it and it will be a great stocking stuffer. Now if he would take the hint and do the same for me with roses! Really appreciate the suggestions!
Judith

Add a "Sophya" to the list of the other 4.

it is available from TT

It is based on a vintage line but has a high degree of disease resistance that will be an added benefit to East Texas conditons.

Why don't you also get a catalog from Tomato Growers Supply com, stick both catalogs in his stocking along with a $100 bill and let him pick his own. :-)

I'm so glad to see Black Krim mentioned--it's my favorite black.

I also like:

Kosovo
German Head
Beefsteak
Hawaiian Pineapple
Chadwick Cherry
Brown Berry

I think if you want your boyfriend to get the whole tomato "experience" do give him a certifcate to Totally Tomatoes as Earl mentioned so wisely. Suggest to him to order toms in different sizes, shapes and colors. By trying many he'll find some new ones he's not yet had, but more importantly, it will also pique his curiousity towards trying more. And THAT should be your best gift.

Great idea, and you've gotten a lot of good advice. Here's a few I like.

Brandywine Sudduth from Tomato Growers Supply. I'm in the South too, and these did fine for me. Large beefsteak type. This is generally the gourmet of all tomatoes.
Brandyboy. Burpee seeds. This is fast becoming a favorite of those trying it. Seems to be somewhat more productive than Brandywine. You'll hear a lot of good about this one.
Earl's Faux. Through TGS. A version of Brandywine that everyone loves. Fairly new variety. Excellent size and taste.
Big Beef. A standard that seems very reliable and highly productive. Beefsteak size tomatoes, and lots of them.
Omar's Lebanese. Can prduce a huge tomato, with lots of taste. A bragging size tomaoto.
Mortgage Lifter. Did really well for me this year. Again, productive and large beefsteak size tomatoes.
Neves Azorean Red. Seems to be a favorite of all who try it. Beefsteak size.
Sungold. Perhaps the most popular of all the cherry type tomatoes.
Black Cherry. This seems to be the favorite of the darker cherry size tomatoes.
Sweet Million (or Sweet Hundred). A standard here. Everyone seems to love them.
Bloody Butcher. Somewht larger, but still not the large kind as I mentioned above. This is a fairly early tomato that seems to be getting more and more fans.

I have grown most, but not all of these. But I've read a great deal about them all and they are all on my grow list for 2008.

Hope this helps! And get him a pack of Seaweed Solution and some good AlgoFlash tomato formula fertilizer.

Happy Holidays!

Don

I think if you want your boyfriend to get the whole tomato "experience" do give him a certifcate to Totally Tomatoes as Earl mentioned so wisely. Suggest to him to order toms in different sizes, shapes and colors. By trying many he'll find some new ones he's not yet had, but more importantly, it will also pique his curiousity towards trying more. And THAT should be your best gift.

****

Actually Earl suggested a gift certificate from Tomato Growers Supply, not Totally Tomatoes.

Judith, there are many good seed sources and different folks prefer some over others for a variety of reasons.

Sandhill Preservation lists the most varieties, above 400 tomatoes alone, and some of the lowest costs, but there are no pictures for the varieties but that's planned for the future.

Totally Tomaoes and Tomato Growers Supply offer about the same number of varieties and both have pictures and folks have been pleased with seeds from both sources.

My only complaint is that several of the tomato descriptions at TT are not correct ( and I was flipping thru the new catalog a couple of days ago) and this goes back to when the former owner of TT and a few other companies sold most of them to Jung's.

I tried once to get some corrections made but that fell through. But at another place where I post one of the higher staff members of Jung's does post and maybe some time in the future I'll try to work through her.

Yes, I guess one could call me this or that for wanting to see correct info in print, but it's always been a priority of mine. Sigh.

Carolyn

I have a better idea.

If you take that $100 (roughly what Earl spends on amendments for each planting hole) and spend it at Victoria's Secret instead, I'd send you a bunch of seeds. I guarantee he'd be happier! Stick the seeds in some real stockings ;) extra points for ordering from Fredricks of Hollywood

{{gwi:1395113}}

;)

LOVE the gift certificate idea... $100 worth is a lot of tomato seeds! You could put a $25-$50 gift certificate and a catalog in his stocking - it's a great catalog...

5 tom suggestions:

Russian 117 - a big oxheart
Omars Lebanese - HUGE beefsteak
Dr. Carolyn - cute ivory/white cherry tom
Cherokee Purple - lovely brick colored tom
Opalka - great tasting red paste tomato

All are AWESOME tasting.

Good luck!

Here is a link that might be useful: Tomato Growers Seed Catalog

Actually Earl suggested a gift certificate from Tomato Growers Supply, not Totally Tomatoes

Whatevs.

Mule,
It's her boyfriend, not her husband. Call me old fashioned, if you'd like. That is a generous offer to send seeds to her though.

A good "rainbow mix" would be
Aunt Ruby's German Green (green)
Black Krim (black)
Pineapple or Hillbilly (yellow bicolored)
White Queen or Great White Beefsteak (white)
and pick a nice large red. I like personally Mortgage Lifter or Delicious.
That will leave you $ left over for seed starting soil, some flats and a germination dome, maybe a heat mat. Then he'd be good to go!
Have a Great Holiday!
Sandy

Judith,

Your original idea is great. You're talking about a stocking stuffer after all ... not a hundred dollar gift, right? A few packs of tomato seeds and maybe a pepper variety or two would make a great stocking stuffer.

Be assured, I have had absolutely no problem with Totally Tomatoes, regardless of a few minor irregularities in their blurb information (not uncommon with seedsmen). And since seed vendors get busier and busier after Christmas due to increasing volumes of orders, you might be better off ordering now than having your BF order after Christmas. I say that because your location in East Texas may require starting your tomatoes by the first of the year ... something others apparently are overlooking.

Last year I phoned an order in to Totally Tomatoes and the seeds arrived within a week. I've mailed in a money order/hardcopy order too, and it arrived in about two weeks from my mailing the order. So, either way, you may be able to get the seeds by Christmas for that stocking stuffer. I do order my seeds early though ... like in November or early December to avoid the rush.

Make sure and get a couple of heat tolerant varieties just in case your boyfriend's garden gets blasted by an East Texas heatwave this coming summer.

A tasty hybrid for me this past summer was Glory. Totally Tomatoes has several other great hybrids some of the other members probably have done well with. If you happen to be close to Poolville, Texas, drop by Willhite Seed Company and get your boyfriend a pack of Amelia hybrid seeds. Those babies are fabulous producers in your zone.

Bill

Last year I tried "Cream Sausage", and wow it really produced, and kept producing into the fall. What a nice white sauce tomato. I will grow it again next year. When temps came near freezing, I picked all the green tomatoes,(many varieties) and put them in a bucket. Over time I picked out the ones that were ripining and put them by the window. Some grew spots, others withered, "Cream Sausage" ripened every one. Every one of them eventually turned white and didn't wither or rott. I had great luck with this one, a late season variety I think.