📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Ispanskaya Roza (Spanish Rose)
- 🌍 Origin: A Russian collector’s variety (noted to be circulated by N. Berezhnova). The name translates to “Spanish Rose” and is considered an unofficial or “working” name in the heirloom community.
- 🌿 Plant Habit: Semi-determinate. Mid-to-late season. It grows to around 3 to 4 feet (1-1.2 m) when grown outdoors in the dirt, though it may stretch taller if grown in a greenhouse.
- 🍅 Fruit Characteristics: Dark cherry-purple tomatoes that vary in shape from round to slightly heart-shaped, often with gentle ribbing near the top. They typically weigh between 5 and 10.5 oz (150-300 g).
- 👅 Flavor & Yield: Known for having dense, very sweet flesh. It is not known as a heavy yielder (yields are generally average to slightly below average), but growers keep it for the excellent flavor.
This is a working name. The plant is a semi-determinate, mid-to-late season. The fruits are round to heart-shaped, dark-colored, and weigh anywhere from 5 to 10.5 oz (150 to 300 g). The yield is pretty average, but the flavor is good.
I got this variety from N. Berezhnova. I grew it two years ago, but for whatever reason, it didn’t really leave a lasting impression on me back then. I decided to give it another shot this season using her same seeds.
I grew the plant outdoors in open ground. It reached a little over 3 feet (1 m) tall. The tomatoes are absolutely beautiful – mostly round with a slight heart shape and gentle ribbing that makes them look almost like a flower. The color is a deep, dark cherry-purple. The flesh is dense and very sweet. It’s not a heavy yielder, with fruits weighing about 5.5 to 7 oz (150-200 g). I plan on trying it in the greenhouse next year to see how it does.
Spanish Rose.
A really solid variety if you are into dark tomatoes.
At first glance, I thought it was an exact twin to Korallovyi (Coral). But after doing a side-by-side taste test, we all agreed that Korallovyi is definitely sweeter.
Tatyana mentions this is a “working name”. In the Russian heirloom community, when a grower receives a stray, unlabeled seed that turns out to be fantastic, they often give it a placeholder or “working” name based on its appearance or origin until (and if) it can be identified. Olga noted that it looks like a twin to Korallovyi (Coral), a famous Russian pink/dark variety, which suggests it might be a strain or off-type of a larger commercial variety. Regardless of its true pedigree, it’s a beautiful, dense slicer!
