Welcome Jennifer. No, I didn't realise there was a yellow version. That might be interesting. I'll be growing Grosse Lisse again when I grow the Aussie tomatoes I've discovered that have it as a parent, for comparison purposes: Are they earlier as claimed? Are they better tasting etc.

I noticed Jaune Grosse Lisse there too Jennifer. I've never heard of it here tho, and have to admit that the thought crossed my mind of it being a milder version of GL probably

(BTW, I found out that New Gippsland's Crown Prince pumpkin is a large selection of the NZ one. I'm still waiting to hear from Diggers.)

PP

I'd be interested to know how it came to be named and turned up in Canada. We're led to believe that Grosse Lisse is a purely Australian name for the tomato that is called Trophy in a lot of the rest of the world.

I found Juane (sic) Grosse Lisse in both PGRC and USDA--and misspelled in both! The USDA deposit was made by a breeder in Hungary.

It's so interesting to follow the travels of germplasm in the 20th century. The plant breeding world was small and so cooperative, especially between Canada and Australia. There is an incredible amount of older material in Canada from eastern Europe and the former USSR and China, things that don't appear anywhere else and certainly not in the USA. In these days of IP and PVP, such exchanges are near impossible; public plant breeding is pretty much a thing of the past.

Ray and PP, I'm going through the PGRC and USDA for Aussie toms as well as the SSE's Garden Seed Inventory. I'll compile and forward a list to you when done. Later I'll go through the SSE Yearbook.

Jennifer, finally seeing a bit of snow--weird winter here!

PP, thanks for following up on the pumpkin quest. I really appreciate this!

Jeff

Patrina, I'm sure that Crown Prince was called Wharahoonga (sic) Crown Prince when it first became available in Australia.

Lomatia, thanks. Sounds like this is what most people are saying... I'm wondering how far back Whangaparoa Crown goes in this country and/or when it became known as Crown Prince?

PP

All I have to go by is what Amy Goldman wrote in her new squash book. She says the Australian blue squash 'Crown' is also called 'Crown Prince', 'Improved Crown', and 'Select Crown'. Then she adds that it is not the same as 'Whangaparoa Crown' from NZ. The book has a very good picture with minimal description of it and nothing for the NZ one.

thanks!

Jennifer

A first time veggy gardening friend planted Grosse Lisse and was a little disappointed about how long they took to ripen.There were ,however,no complaints when they ripened,well,perhaps just one.Some of them came in at 680grams and were a meal in themselves.I can't imagine how anyone could love to hate a variety like that.

There's nothing wrong with Grosse Lisse. It's just that there are many better tasting varieties. Having said that, taste is a personal thing. One man's meat and all that.

Grosse Lisse are really nice, they taste great, and remind me of my childhood.

I grew GL as my sole tomato for many, many years but I've finally seen the light!!!!! Always bougt seedlings and I wondered if it lost it's vigour over the years.

Well I have some Yellow Grosse Lisse tomato seeds - I actually sell open pollinated seeds for a living at markets around Qld - if you want any just email me - seeds58@gmail.com - $2.50 per packet of 30-50 seeds - The name of my business is
Forget Me Not Seeds & Fudge.

g'day,

the yellow grosse lisse, is it open pollinated from heirloom plants of some sort of hybrid?

i would like to be able to grow the grosse lisse tom's like we did when i was a kid easy to grow and big and red and juicy, but now seedlings bought must be some sort of hybrid the generally fail, where beef steak and ox heart thrive.

len

Here is a link that might be useful: lens garden page