Victory Seeds^™

Rare, Open-pollinated & Heirloom Garden Seeds

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Heirloom and Rare
Pink / Purple Tomato Varieties
(Lycopersicon esculentum)

[Red] [Pink/Purple] [Orange/Yellow/Green/White] [Paste-types] [Small Fruited]
[Tomatillo & Other Relatives] [Livingston Releases]
[Growing Guide & More Information]
[About Tomato Colors]

Packets contain approximately 20 seeds unless otherwise noted.
[Although we separate seeds during the harvest process, you may find small clumps of multiple seeds in your packet. Separate into individual seeds before planting.]



 
          
          
        
          
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Please remember that maturity date are from time of setting plants into the garden. Additionally these dates will vary from location to location and even from year to year. They are for rough planning purposes only.

Anna Maria's Heart
83 days, indeterminate — Sent to us by Dr. Carolyn Male (NY MA C) who told us that she received it from Scott Hamilton from Germany. It had been passed down in his wife's family and was originally from Russia. It is named after his wife. The fruits are four to sixteen ounces, pink, and heart-shaped.

Black Krim
80 days, indeterminate — Brownish-purple to maroon colored fruit with green shoulders, sweet, mild, rich flavor. Fruits weigh approximately twelve ounces. Said to have originated near the Black Sea.

Brandywine, Pink
90 days, indeterminate — The plant has "potato-leaf" foliage with very large, boat-shaped, reddish, pink fruits averaging between sixteen and twenty four ounces each. The flavor is exceptional and of gourmet quality. Fruits ripen gradually over the season. Like many of the larger blossomed, potato-leafed varieties, it is not a heavy producer. Pollination can be improved by flicking the blossoms with your fingers or gently shaking the plants. Click here for a history of Brandywines.

Brandywine (Sudduth Strain)

80 days, indeterminate — Potato-leaf plants produce large (fourteen to thirty six ounce fruits) that are oblate in shape and pink in color. Excellent flavor. David Pendergrass sent us the seed. This variety originally is from the Ben Quisenberry collection who reportedly obtained the seed from a Mrs. Doris Sudduth Hill who said that it had been in her family since about 1900.

Buckeye State
83 days, indeterminate — The fruits are large, pink, oblate-shaped weighing up to twenty four ounces. Very attractive and fits the A. W. Livingston's description of their 1893 release.

Our source was Dr. Carolyn Male (NY MA C 08) who received the seeds from Toni Randall who bought the seeds from Harvest Moon Seeds in 2008. Since it appears that Harvest Moon Seeds is now defunct, we have not been able to trace this variety's pedigree and are not listing it as Livingston's. However, the description on their old 2007 web site claimed that their source was Livingston. They stated, "We are happy to obtain this selection from a Ohio source who has kept it in their family for three generations."

Caspian Pink
80 days, indeterminate — According to sales literature, it is an heirloom discovered in Russia by a Petoseed Company employee shortly after the cold war ended. It has large, kind of flat (oblate) shaped, pink fruits weighing up to eleven ounces when the plants are pruned. The fruits ripen from the bottom of the plant up. Taste is mild and sweet.

Cherokee Chocolate
80 days, indeterminate — Sets fruit that are the same size as 'Cherokee Purple' but the color dark crimson red with shoulders that are brownish-black. It appears to be a stable skin color mutation of 'Cherokee Purple'. Excellent flavor and flesh texture. Sweet, slightly tart, firm but very juicy flesh. Nice slicer.

A variety that originated in the garden of heirloom tomato collector Craig LeHoullier and was introduced to the general public by the Victory Seed Company in 2004.

Cherokee Purple
80 days, indeterminate — Given to heirloom tomato collector Craig LeHoullier by J. D. Green of Tennessee, it is at least 100 years old and was reported as originally grown by the Cherokee Indians. The fruits are large (twelve to sixteen ounces), dark pink with darker purple shoulders. Excellent complex flavor, slight sweet aftertaste, perfect slicer for tomato sandwiches!

Curry
90 days, indeterminate — An old family heirloom. The regular leaf plants produce large, pink, delicious, beefsteak-type fruits.

Dot's Delight
90 days, indeterminate — A rare heirloom. The fruits are nice, large, pink fruits. The plants are sturdy and potato leaf.

Dwarf Champion
80 days, tree-type — Good flavor and texture for slicing. Tastes slightly tangy but is mild and has sweet overtones. Compact, rugose leaf plants with three to eight ounce fruits. Our parent stock source was GRIN accession number PI 270180.

Although A. W. Livingston was careful not to claim credit for releasing the variety, the 1896 catalog did describe it as follows:

"We make a specialty of this grand and very distinct variety ad have grown a number of acres every year since its introduction. A single plant of it was found some ten years ago (1886) in a field of our Acmes. It is well adapted for forcing in vegetable houses, because of its dwarf and compact growth, the plants growing stiff and upright, with stiff-jointed stems, the foliage of and unusually dark green color, thick and corrugated."

Dwarf Champion # 15 Heirloom Tomato Seeds

Dwarf Champion #15
80 days, tree-type — Again, very similar to the other 'Dwarf Champion' variation. Good flavor and texture for slicing. Compact, rugose leaf plants with three to six ounce fruits. Our parent stock source was USDA ARS accession number NSL 43539.

Dwarf Champion Improved Heirloom Tomato Seeds

Dwarf Champion Improved
85 days, tree-type — Very comparable to 'Dwarf Champion'. Slightly larger leaves, slightly later maturity, slightly sweeter flavor. Compact, rugose leaf plants with three to five ounce fruits. Good flavor and texture for slicing. Our parent stock source was USDA ARS accession number NSL 43540.

Early Bird
80 days, indeterminate — A nice, tart flavored, pink tomato weighing up to 15 ounces.

Released by Johnson & Stokes of Philadelphia in 1899. Grown out from USDA ARS accession number NSL 26949.

Eva Purple Ball
75 days, indeterminate — Reportedly from the Black Forest region of Germany in the late 1800s. The fruits are very smooth, uniformly globe shaped, about six ounces in weight, and are a deep pink color. Excellent taste. Good canning variety. Very prolific.

Ferris Wheel
90 days, indeterminate — A good pink tomato. Juicy, mild and slightly sweet. The largest fruit in our grow out weighed in at thirty two ounces. Some fruit as small as eight ounces but a pound is a typical specimen.

Released by the John A. Salzer Seed Company of La Crosse, Wisconsin in about 1907. Our parent stock source was heirloom tomato collector Craig LeHoullier who grew them out from USDA ARS accession number NSL 27341.

Fioletovyi Kruglyi
75 days, indeterminate — The plants are beautiful with grayish foliage. The fruits are globe-shaped and a dark purple color that grow in clusters of six fruits. They have an excellent meaty texture and sweet flavor with a nice "tomatoey" finish but not acidic or tart. Thin skin, meaty flesh, seeds and juice in two cells.

In Russian the tomato is called "Фиолетовый круглый" which translates in English to "Purple Round". It was sent to us by seed saver, Andrey Baranovski of Minsk (BELR BA A).

- Very Limited Supply -

Fordhook First (Burpee's)
90 days, indeterminate — Good flavored, minimal splitting after the rains. Fruit up to six ounces. According to the 1899 W. Atlee Burpee seed annual, the variety originated with well-known market growers, S. D. Woodruff and Sons of Hartford. Released about 1894.

German Johnson
85 days, indeterminate — The beefsteak-type fruits are large (up to a pound), meaty, reddish-pink in color, and are mild but flavorful. They make a great slicing tomato for burgers and sandwiches. The plants are tall with regular-leaf foliage.

Giant Belgium Pink
85 days, indeterminate — The fruits have smooth ends, average one to two pounds each and are dark pink in color. They have a sweet, mild, low acid flavor.

Globe (Burpee's)
85 days, indeterminate — Similar to, and likely a selection of, 'Livingston's Globe'. The plants are heavy yielding, pink fruited, vigorous vine, fruit globular, smooth and very solid; good quality. Released in 1936 by W. Atlee Burpee and was an "All-American Selection^®" winner that same year.

Gulf State Market (Livingston's Strain) Heirloom Tomato Seeds

Gulf State Market (Livingston's Strain)
80 days, indeterminate — Fruits reach up to twenty ounces and are nice and mild flavored.

'Gulf State Market' was found by Walter Richards of Crystal Springs, Mississippi as a single plant in a field of 'Early Detroit' tomatoes in 1917. It was released by D. M. Ferry & Company shortly thereafter.⁽¹⁾ This strain is Livingston Seed Company's selection which we grew out from USDA ARS accession number NSL 193978.

Grandpa Charlie
90 days, indeterminate — Large (up to one pound), pink fruits that have a mildly tart, good full flavor. The plants are potato leaf.

Indian Stripe
85 days, indeterminate — Similar to 'Cherokee Purple', very productive, very good flavor. It is productive, a compact indeterminate plant, fruits are oblate, a bit smaller than 'Cherokee Purple', shoulders not as dark, but color similarly dusky rose with some occasional green striping. Flavor is best when fully ripe.

Jimmy Joe
90 days, indeterminate — Another good pink tomato. Juicy but firm. Weights ranged from six to twenty ounces. Globe to flattened-globe in shape on regular leaf plants. Sent to us by heirloom tomato collector Craig LeHoullier.

Kosovo
75 days, indeterminate — Originally sent to us by Glenn Parker of New Zealand, he writes the following about this variety: "In 2000, an old-timer came into my nursery and said that his son, who was a UN worker in Kosovo, had sent him seed the previous year of a beautiful Kosovoan tomato."

Slightly willowy growth, six to eight feet high, pink, fleshy, slicer-type fruit. Heart, double-heart, and large flat shaped fruit all on the same plant averaging one to two pounds in weight. Very tasty. Very early for such large fruits.

Louisiana Dixie
90 days, indeterminate — Bred by Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge and originally released by the Reuter Seed Company in 1936. The plants are vigorous, and resistant to fusarium wilt and cracking. The fruits are globe-shaped, slightly flattened and pink in color. Our parent stock source was USDA ARS accession number NSL 2879.

Louisiana Gulf State Heirloom Tomato Seeds

Louisiana Gulf State
78 days, indeterminate — Bred by Dr. Julian C. Miller of the Ag. Experimental Station in Baton Rouge and released by Reuter Seed Co. in 1936. It was described as a "highly refined selection of the famous 'Gulf State Market'." High yielding, vigorous, uniform, and disease resistant. Fruits average eight ounces but reached twelve, globe to flattened-globe in shape and very tasty. Our parent stock source was USDA ARS accession number NSL 32627.

Marianna's Peace
85 days, indeterminate — Reportedly a family heirloom from Czechoslovakia dating back to the early 1900s. Potato leaf foliage. Fruit are deep reddish pink, good size weighing around a pound, good sweet / acid balance flavor, very meaty and a shy seeded variety like Brandywine.

This variety has been rare, highly sought after since its introduction in about 2001. It is becoming widely available and finally affordable.

Mikarda Sweet
85 days, indeterminate — Sent to us by collector Craig LeHoullier, he writes, "This is one of the original Russian varieties offered by High Altitude Seeds in 1990. It is very unusual being a pink fruited elongated type, and having excellent flavor atypical of paste types. It is quite rare and not often offered."

Monarch (Buist's Monarch)
80 days, indeterminate — The fruit is tart but not sour with subtle sweet undertones and lingering aftertastes. They range from eight to eighteen ounces in weight, pink in color, and oblate in shape. We grew out from seeds sent to us by heirloom tomato collector Craig LeHoullier (originally from USDA ARS accession NSL 27394).

Mortgage Lifter

(a.k.a. "Radiator Charlie's" Mortgage Lifter)
85 days, indeterminate — This has been a popular variety since it was introduced in the 1930s. The legend of this tomato is that it was bred by M. C. Byles (a.k.a. Radiator Charlie) of Logan, West Virginia. For six years he crossed German Johnson, Beefsteak, English and Italian varieties, selecting the largest specimens. It is said that he then sold plants for one dollar each and paid off his mortgage in six years. The fruits are large, pink, over a pound each and one of the best beefsteak flavors available.

Pale Leaf Mortgage Lifter - Mullens Strain Heirloom Seeds

Mortgage Lifter (Pale Leaf Strain)
86 days, indeterminate — An unusual, pale, chartreuse colored foliage with standard 'Mortgage Lifter' fruit. In 1990, Craig LeHoullier received

Leaf Comparison - Pale Leaf Mortgage Lifter - Mullens Strain Heirloom Seeds

a strain of 'Mortgage Lifter' from Charlotte Mullens of West Virginia. A few years ago, this interesting variety showed up as a cross or mutation and seems to be quite stable. The fruits are large, pink, delicious flavored, and the plant maintains its unusual color all season. The picture on the left is a comparison of the color of a between a standard Mortgage Lifter' leaf and this strain.

Peak of Perfection
90 days, indeterminate — The fruits are smooth, globe-shaped, six to eight ounces, pink, and nice flavored.

Originally released by the John A. Salzer Seed Company of La Crosse, Wisconsin in about 1927.

Pinkshipper
90 days, indeterminate — Bred by the USDA, Beltsville, Maryland and released in 1957 for pink tomato markets and home garden. Its parentage is 'Gulf State Market' x 'Pan America' then outcrossed to 'Marvelosa' x 'Marglobe'. The fruits are smooth, globular, pink, mild tasting and make an excellent slicing tomato. Exhibits a high resistance to fusarium wilt. Our parent stock source was USDA ARS accession number PI 270241

Ponderosa
88 days, indeterminate — Large, purplish-pink fruit, mild flavor for slicing and canning, twelve ounces to two pounds in clusters of three to five fruits, with small seed cavities, prone to cracking, late-maturing, heavy yields, fair to poor leaf coverage, requires staking.

Released by Peter Henderson in 1891.

Pruden's Purple
70 days, indeterminate — A potato leaf variety that yields delicious, large, twelve to sixteen ounce fruit with dark pink skin and crimson flesh.

Redfield Beauty
90 days, indeterminate — Reportedly a selection of 'Livingston Beauty'. It was featured as the cover of the 1923 H. G. Hastings Seed Annual. Released about 1897.

Beautiful, smooth, oblate-shaped, six to twelve ounce pink fruits. Excellent flavor, mild but slightly tart. Good slicing variety. Source seed was USDA ARS accession number NSL 27430.

Rozovyi Gigant
90 days, indeterminate — It is a Russian variety ('Розовый Гигант') whose name translates to "pink giant" in English.

The plants are compact producing large, pink, flattened, fruits weighing up to forty ounces! Sent to us by seed saver, Andrey Baranovski of Minsk (BELR BA A).

Special Turkish
75 days, indeterminate — A very good tasting, meaty, large (thirteen to seventeen ounce), oblate-shaped, pink slicing tomato.

Sent to us by an Oregon gardener, Melvin Christensen, who was given seeds in 1972 from a co-worker who had received them from friends some years prior. These friends had collected the variety in Turkey while serving in the Peace Corps.

Tennessee Britches
95 days, indeterminate — According to his daughter, this variety was raised by Mr. Buckley of Dresden, Tennessee for "as long as she could remember." He passed away in the early 1990s. It was then maintained by a Mr. Atnip who named the variety after his nickname for his young daughter. Sent to us by Craig LeHoullier.

The regular leaf plants provide good leaf coverage and produce huge (up to forty ounces) pink, very tasty, fruits. Rare heirloom.

Tennessee Heirloom
90 days, indeterminate — A really good variety that we have been growing out here on the farm since 1999. It has been a consistent performer through many different growing seasons. Meaty, large (up to two pounds), excellent slicer with great taste. Received from Phillip Meadows whose family in Middle Tennessee has been growing it for over a century.

Tidwell German
80 days, indeterminate — This is a family heirloom from the Tidwell family of Tennessee who have been growing it since at least the 1920s. Moderate drought resistance but does not like wet conditions. The plants are large with regular leaves yielding pink fruits that are mild in flavor. The average fruit sizes range from one to two pounds. Suckering the plants can result in fruits weighing more than three pounds. Our stock is raised in Tennessee by Tidwell descendant, David Pendergrass.

Traveler
85 days, indeterminate —Some seed companies have begun erroneously calling this variety by the name "Arkansas Traveler".

Released by the University of Arkansas in 1970. Mild flavor, medium sized (approximately six ounces). Pink in color. Bred for the Southern U.S. but has done well for us here in Oregon.

Traveler 76
78 days, indeterminate — Released by the University of Arkansas in 1976. Heat and drought resistant. Good flavor, six ounce fruits, crack resistant. Dark pink when mature. Better fruit size and increased crack resistance over 'Traveler'.

Trucker's Favorite (Burpee's)
75 days, indeterminate — Originated in Burlington County, New Jersey and released by W. Atlee Burpee sometime before 1899.

A medium to large sized, pink fruited tomato, ranging in weight from six to twelve ounces and has a fair resistance to cracking. Fruit are uniform globe shape and ripen evenly. Plants are strong and produce very good yields of old fashioned tasting tomatoes right up until frost.

Valena Pink
85 days, indeterminate — A great slicer. Monstrously huge (up to two pounds), great flavor, meaty, yet juicy.

This potato leaf variety is a family heirloom given to us in 1999 by Emil and Ann Valena of California. They received seeds from relatives in Cino, Italy who they were visiting in the late 1960s. They have been growing it ever since. When we asked how long the family had been growing it there, we got the vague reply, "forever." Regardless of its exact history, it is a darn good tomato. We have trialed it in Tennessee, Oregon and California and it has performed well in both good and bad years.

Wood's Famous Brimmer
76 days, indeterminate — A release by T. W. Wood & Sons Seed Company (Richmond, Virginia) sometime before 1924. The pink, flattened-globe shaped fruits averaged about twelve ounces but reportedly can reach 2½ pounds. Grown out from USDA ARS accession number NSL 5793.

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Documentary Sources:

"Descriptions of Principle Types of American Varieties of Tomatoes", USDA, October, 1933.

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Victory Seeds™

Rare, Open-pollinated & Heirloom Garden Seeds

Victory Seeds^™