My favourite cherry recognised; lousy day for Gardener’s Delight
I’ve grown (and loved) cordon tomato Rosella for a long time. It’s great to see it has been honoured with the RHS’s Award of Garden Merit (AGM) in trials.
Its distinct, fruity, almost smoky flavour, with a good balance of sweetness and acidity, makes it a winner for me. Packed with antioxidants, Rosella has smouldering looks – dark rose-brown with green shoulders, and fewer seeds than many other cherry tomatoes. It’s a stunning tomato to eat raw in salads. I like it lightly grilled with feta cheese, which really brings out the flavour. Here are more RHS AGM varieties from seed.
Tomato Rosella – Tendency to split
The one downside is that it tends to split if it is left too long on the plant. Pick it regularly, although this didn’t put off the RHS jury. Seeds aren’t expensive, as they’re not an F1 variety. Packets retail at about £2.99 for 12 seeds, and they are widely available.
The RHS cherry tomato trial also awarded the AGM to Sweet Aperitif and Bite Size. Another was awarded to Riesling, subject to availability. Of the varieties that already held the AGM, Cherrola and Sweet Million were reconfirmed.
AGM status retained
Apero and Suncherry Premium retained theirs too. However, the status wasn’t reconfirmed due to the number of votes cast against them. If that makes no sense to you, then you’re not alone, as I don’t understand it either.
However, bad news for that old favourite, Gardener’s Delight, which lost its AGM status. The forum felt it wasn’t a cherry tomato as it was too big. As it has been cultivated for so long, there are many different strains, resulting in variable outcomes.
So what will you be growing next year? Tomato Rosella will still be in my propagator come March. Use a bumper crop of Rosella tomatoes in one of my tomato glut recipes.
