Thompson & Morgan: Busy, packed catalogue with lots of choice. P&P £2.29 for seeds. £4.45 for plants.
44 varieties avaliable as seed. 3 (Losetto, Ferline and Sungold) also avaliable as plants for delivery late May. The catalogue had me scratching my head over how the tomatoes are grouped. Baskets and containers was one clear category. The others spread across 3 sets of pages – I failed to detect a common thread for – maybe they’re organised like the tomatoes in my garden – just one big jumbled up salsa of pots and containers! So I will list as they appear in the catalogue – and if you spot a theme please let me in on it!
- Ailsa Craig/ Alicante/ Black Cherry/ Black Russian/ Brandywine/ Cherrola F1/ Country Taste F1/ Cristal F1/ Glacier/ Golden Cherry F1/ Gardener’s Delight
- Golden Sunrise/ Harlequin/ Ildi/ Legend/ Losetto F1/ Juliet F1/ Moneymaker/ Olivade F1/ Roma VF/ Rosada F1/ Shirley F1/ Stupice/ Ferline F1
- Suncherry Premium F1/ Sungella/ Super Marmande/ Sweet Baby/ Sweet Olive F1/ Tamina/ Tigerella/ Tomatoberry-Garden F1/ Sungold
- Baskets & Containers: Balconi Red/ Balconi Yellow/ Cherry Cascade/ Gartenperle/ Maskota/ Red Alert/ Totem/ Tumblimg Tom Red/ Tumbling Tom Yellow/ Venus/ Vilma
A couple of varieties to highlight: Losetto F1. This tomato is their vegetable of the year for 2011. Billed as the “first blight resistant basket tomato“. It’s been in trials for the last two years and has shown tolerance to late blight. Determinate bushy habit, ideal for hanging baskets and containers, and can be planted direct into the ground.
And then perhaps more of a variation than a variety: Pepino (Melon Pear). It is described as a “tomato relative” and “grow us like tomatoes!” Although it “eats” like a melon. Perhaps a melon for the “everyday gardener”. At the London RHS Autumn show I always enjoy seeing who’s won the Melon class. There are usually two entries. One from The Duke of Malborough, the other from The Duke of Devonshire. I have no idea on the judging niceities of that situation! But I’m sure it is all done with great grace!
