Fruit of many colors

Some go for size.

Some go for yield.

Me? It’s all about color.

Once a summer I arrange a plate of tomato slices of every color from my garden: scarlet, yellow, purple, white, green. Toss on some cherry tomatoes — red, orange, pear-shaped gold. Drizzle on a little bit of olive oil, sprinkle salt, pepper and shredded basil. Sit and admire in the afternoon sun under the wisteria and rosebush shading the deck — for a few minutes anyway — before devouring. Sop up the juices left on the plate with some bread.

My tomato garden is composed mostly of heirlooms, with some others thrown in to ensure I get a rainbow. Stuck in a red rut? You have bushels of options.

In general, an heirloom tomato is open-pollinated, its seeds harvested from the same variety, season after season for at least 50 years.

The heirlooms’ characters come through in names like Banana Legs, Big Rainbow, Silvery Fir Tree. Some have stories, like Mortgage Lifter, the tomato that allegedly grew so large and profusely that its cultivator paid off his house by growing them.

Some new-to-the-U.S. varieties began to appear here after the dissolution of the eastern bloc in the late ‘80s, like Azoychka from Siberia. Scott Meyer, editor at Organic Gardening magazine, of Emmaus, Pa., recommends this variety for Western gardeners looking for a large yellow tomato that can take cooler temperatures and shorter seasons.

In Florida, late February is a good time to get plants going, although in the fall, some cool-weather tomatoes will grow here in time for the December holidays.

Longmont, Colo., greenhouse manager Ryan Schmitt describes heirlooms as being closer to wild than their hybrid counterparts. Growers breed hybrids for disease resistance, sugar content and yield, Schmitt said, and heirlooms may not perform as well in those aspects. The tradeoff? Flavor, novelty and niches.

Finding a particular heirloom to grow can be a challenge. Seeds are available through catalogs and online — try Googling the variety you seek.

The light from my windows isn’t strong enough to grow tomatoes from seed well and I haven’t invested in grow lights. Instead I buy seedlings in the late spring, by mail order, at the greenhouse, roadside stands or farmers’ markets.

Every year is an adventure, but I can’t live without Brandywine — pink or red — and Sun Gold, an orange cherry. I’m cheating though — Sun Gold’s a hybrid, not an heirloom, but it seldom makes it from my garden into the kitchen. We just eat them off the vine.

Buying seedlings is potluck. Call ahead to a greenhouse to see what it has. There are a number of sites that sell seed, however, listed below.

The popularity of heirloom tomatoes has zoomed, and the plants can sell out quickly. Prices start at about a $1.50 for a small plant, up through $8 or $9 for bigger ones.

Or use mail-order — being prepared for substitute varieties.

Build your own rainbow this fall — and take time out one afternoon after harvest to admire your handiwork in a platter of slices. Here are a few tomato recommendations

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Green Zebra

Color: light/dark green stripe

Size: 3-inch fruits

What’s great about it: Tastes like a tart red even though it’s green. A bit hard to tell when ripe; try squeezing it slightly.

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Garden peach

Color: yellow with pink blush, like a peach

Size: a bit bigger than a golf ball

What’s great about it: The look: translucent skin gives it a frosty sheen; the flavor is delicate.

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Dona

Color: red

Size: 2½-inch diameter

What’s great about it: Flavorful, cooked or sliced raw.

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White Currant

Color: pale yellow to buff

Size: tiny, like caviar on steroids

What’s great about it: Yields millions in clusters. Sweet flavor. Adds style to mixed-tomato salads. (Not an heirloom)

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Purple Calabash

Color: maroon-purple, with a bit of green around the stem

Size: slightly flat tomato can grow as big as fist size

What’s great about it: The pleated lobes make amoeba-shaped slices, with a complex wine-like flavor.

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Tigerella

Color: red-orange stripe

Size: golf-ball size through 3 inches

What’s great about it: Nice look, nice flavor, yields a lot and late into the season.

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Orange Queen

Color: pure tangerine

Size: fits in your palm

What’s great about it: The clear color and mild flavor

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Heirlooms in your back yard

The Institute of Food and Agricultural Science (IFAS) for the University of Florida has conducted tests on heirloom tomatoes, but these have been primarily for commercial qualities — storage, color, growth habit and appearance. To see the bulletin, call the Collier County or Lee County University of Florida extension service Master Gardeners Clinics at 353-2872 or (239) 461-7504. Or access the IFAS bulletin directly online: edis.ifas.ufl.edu/HS174

Their results can offer some ideas for gardeners who’d like to try heirloom tomatoes in their home gardens this October or next February.

Arkansas Traveler - 85 days, southern heirloom, pink 6-8 ounces, heat tolerant

Aunt Ruby’s German Green - 80 days, beefsteak-type, green

Black - 83 days, 4 ounces, Russian heirloom, mahogany-brown

Black Prince - 70 days, Siberian heirloom, deep garnet

Cherokee Purple - 80 days, Tennessee heirloom, dusky rose to purple fruit

Eva Purple Ball - 70 days, German heirloom, dark pink

Flamme - 70 days, French heirloom, small bright orange fruit

Garden Peach - 80 days, fuzzy fruit, yellow-pink

Green Zebra - 75 days, amber green with dark green stripes

Mary Ann - 78 days, classic beefsteak, deep pink to orange red

Mr. Stripey (Tigrella) - 56 days, 1½- 2 in., red and orange striped, tangy

Nebraska Wedding - 90 days (or longer), Nebraska heirloom, meaty, pale orange fruit

Pink Ping Pong - 75 days, sweet pink fruit about the size of a ping pong ball

If you’re more confident in your ability to eat heirloom tomatoes than in growing them, a local dining spot, Naples Tomato, 14700 U.S. 41 N., specializes in using some 10 kinds of heirloom tomatoes in its Neapolitan-style cuisine when they’re in season. The tomatoes are grown for them through Harvest for Humanity. They also sell the heirloom tomatoes in season. Call them for information: 598-9800.

— Harriet Howard Heithaus

Heirloom seed and plant sources

Always call local garden centers first to ask about their supply of heirloom seeds and plants. Some garden centers in the two-county area carry them in season.

Also try these online sources for heirloom tomatoes, recommended by Scott Meyer at Organic Gardening, 33 E. Minor Street, Emmaus, Pa., 18098-0099 (www.organicgardening.com):

Other sites

-- www.Burpee.com

-- www.Cooksgarden.com

-- www.heirloomtomatoes.com; a small, cottage-industry company with hands-on experience

-- www.Johnnyseeds.com

-- www.Kitchengardenseeds.com

-- www.Rareseeds.com

-- www.Seedsofchange.com

-- www.Seedsavers.org

-- www.tomatofest.com

-- www.Victoryseeds.com

-- www.windowbox.com; includes instructions on growing heirloom tomatoes