Once again, it's time for Tomatomania! This unique event brings Tomato enthusiasts from all over the East Coast to our nursery. For 2010, we'll offer more than 100 varieties of Tomato seedlings, all fresh from our greenhouses. You'll also find fertilizers, stakes, ties, containers, and a selection of the best-tasting herbs and vegetables for home gardeners. Tomato guru Scott Daigre will be on hand, helping you choose among the many varieties of heirlooms and hybrids and answering questions about growing Tomatoes for best yield and flavor. If you can't join us at Tomatomania, shop from over 130 varieties on our Web site and click here to learn more about growing Tomatoes.
This year our guest speakers will include representatives from Fine Gardening and Fine Cooking magazines. Stop by the Garden Conservancy's display booth and find out about Open Days gardens in your area.
Customer favorites you can expect to find again: cherries 'Sungold' and 'Black Cherry', paste varieties 'San Marzano' and 'Martino's Roma', beefsteaks 'Red Brandywine' and 'Mortgage Lifter', slicers 'Carmello' and 'Black from Tula', and colorful 'Gold Medal Yellow', 'Cherokee Purple', and 'Green Zebra'.
Varieties that will be making their first appearance at Tomatomania include: 'Missouri Pink Love Apple', 'Orange Flesh Purple Smudge', and 'Pink Ping Pong'. You have to love these names!
Meet our speakers under the tent for the following free programs:
Friday, May 21 10:00-11:00 "Tips for Growing Great Tomatoes" - Scott Daigre
Friday, May 21 11:30-12:30 "Homegrown and Homemade" - Danielle Sherry, Associate Editor, Fine Gardening, and Sarah Breckenridge, Web Producer, Fine Cooking.
Ms. Sherry will demonstrate how to design and plant a container filled with assorted edibles. Find out how to select the right plants (veggies, herbs, and edible flowers), mix up a special potting soil, and take care of your mini-garden throughout the season. This will include a live demonstration of the proper planting technique -- ensuring that your pot will look as good as it tastes.
Ms. Breckenridge will highlight the exceptional and robust flavor of heirloom Tomatoes, with a simple, yet sophisticated recipe for Tomato Napoleons. You'll learn how to make each component of this dish, including Parmesan crisps and a zesty vinaigrette for a fresh herb salad. She'll also provide tips on how to keep Tomatoes at their best after picking them.
Friday, May 21 1:30-2:30 "Tips for Growing Great Tomatoes" - Scott Daigre
Saturday, May 22 10:00-11:00 "Tips for Growing Great Tomatoes" - Scott Daigre
Saturday, May 22 11:30-12:15 "Patio Edibles: Pots, Raised Beds, Best Varieties and Growing Tips" - Barbara Pierson, White Flower Farm Nursery Manager
Tomatoes and all types of edibles can be grown on your deck or in a raised bed. Find out which varieties to grow, simple growing tips, and why containers are so popular.
Saturday, May 22 1:30-2:30 "Tips for Growing Great Tomatoes" - Scott Daigre
Our Presenters
About Scott Daigre
Mr. Daigre has a passion for the tastiest Tomatoes, even those with wild shapes and unusual colors. To him, they all have personalities, and he can describe their features off the top of his head. He's the author of "Tomatomania! How to Grow Tomatoes Successfully in Southern California" and also is a garden consultant, instructor, and owner of his own garden design business. Don't miss this opportunity to get advice, share tips, or just meet others who love growing Tomatoes.
Scott Daigre at Tomatomania!
About Danielle Sherry
Danielle Sherry is an associate editor at Fine Gardening magazine. She has worked throughout the gardening world for over 15 years but has been raising vegetables since the age of 8. Working at reputable nurseries, garden centers, and even a few farms throughout the country has provided her with a wealth of knowledge when it comes to growing her own food. And when it comes to tomatoes, she has trialed hundreds -- but continues to plant a handful of new varieties each year.
Danielle Sherry
About Sarah Breckenridge
Sarah Breckenridge is Fine Cooking's senior Web producer, where she creates cooking videos and interactive content. A lifelong cook, Sarah attended the Institute of Culinary Education in New York City and apprenticed at Blue Hill restaurant at Stone Barns in Pocantico Hills, NY, where she picked herbs and vegetables for each night's dinner from the restaurant's surrounding gardens and greenhouses. Since moving to a Hamden, CT, farmhouse in 2008, Sarah has ventured into growing her own vegetables, especially Tomatoes.
Sarah Breckenridge
About Barbara Pierson
Nursery manager since 1998, Ms. Pierson graduated from Cornell University with a degree in floriculture and ornamental horticulture, and developed her passion for plants while working at her parents' nursery. You may have seen (or heard) Barb in the garden videos posted on our Web site. She's also appeared on the Martha Stewart Living TV Show and WTIC's Garden Talk with Len and Lisa.
Barbara Pierson
About the Garden Conservancy
A remarkably foresighted and generous man, also an enormously gifted horticulturist, named Frank Cabot created a nonprofit organization called the Garden Conservancy 21 years ago. In some respects a non-government version of England's national trust, the Garden Conservancy seeks to preserve great gardens. To raise funds and to educate people about the role of gardens in our cultural heritage, Open Days, the Conservancy's major outreach program, allows public access to private gardens on a controlled basis. The Conservancy has come a long ways in two decades, and this year during its Open Days program, 360 of the best private gardens in 21 states will be available to the public. We are extremely pleased and proud to partner with this fine organization and encourage you to visit some of the gardens (there can be no better source of both information and inspiration). Please stop by the Garden Conservancy's display at Tomatomania™ and find out about Open Days gardens in your area.
Experts will be on hand to answer your questions. 
Scott Daigre at Tomatomania! 
