This is a Stanley Zubrowski tomato. Stanley Zubrowski is a master Canadian plant breeder from Saskatchewan. Although he is more well-known for his clematis varieties, he has also developed some wonderful tomatoes. Yellow Fireworks is Stanley’s yellow selection of Tim Peter’s red tomato, Fireworks. Tim Peters is another master tomato breeder (see the seed description for Winter Gold in Longkeepers).
Stanley first listed Yellow Fireworks in the 1998 seed catalog for his seed company, Saskaberia Seed & Nursery, located in Prairie River, Saskatchewan. It seems that not long after the catalog was published the company closed (or at least was no longer listed in the SSE’s Garden Seed Inventory), and Yellow Fireworks wasn’t available in the trade. Almost 25 years later, in 2022, we were fortunate to track down seed for this excellent variety from a Seed Savers Exchange member in Montana, John Austin. John has been saving seed and adapting varieties to his Zone 4 Montana environment for 40 years, so Yellow Fireworks was in good hands.
Plant Characteristics: Yellow Fireworks is a perfectly round, bright yellow tomato. Tennis ball sized (120g to 200g/ 4oz to 7oz). Not a crack or blemish on the fruits. We were worried a tomato this beautiful wouldn’t taste good, but we were not disappointed. It tastes amazing, wonderfully sweet. And the plant is so easy to manage; a compact 2 feet that doesn’t need staking.
How to Plant: Start seeds indoors 6-8 weeks before the last frost. Plant seed 5mm (¼ inch) deep. Keep moist. When true leaves appear, transplant to a larger container if needed. Transplant outside after the danger of frost has passed/later spring.
