Tomato Cages and Ladders Face Off

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What's your favorite tomato support? Take our poll and let us know. (You can find the poll at the top of the right-hand column.) Do you prefer Tomato Cages, Tomato Ladders, Rainbow Spiral Supports, wooden stakes or something of your own invention? If you have more to say about your choice, please make a comment (click on Comments at the bottom of this post).

Cindy and Kathy at the photo shoot.

Like many good ideas, it all began with a casual hallway conversation. Back in the office after a sunny May weekend, Cindy and I were talking about which gardening chores we'd managed to cross off our lists. We had both planted our tomatoes that weekend, but she had put up tomato ladders and I had put up cages. We started laughing about how she would never even consider using cages for supports and how I would never consider using ladders.

Others within earshot chimed in with their own opinions about the merits of each support system. It seemed clear: Either you were a cage-person or a ladder-person.

Our art director, Susan, overheard us talking and a light bulb went on. “Let’s set up a face off and photograph it for the catalog,” she said. “We could do it in one of the beds in our display garden!”

We enlisted our extraordinary staff gardener, Sarah, to set up and maintain the bed throughout the summer months. She made sure the tomato plants were well fertilized and had plenty of water. By early September, the plants were heavy with fruit and the photo shoot was scheduled for one day after work. Susan, the photographer, our photo stylist Martha, and Cindy and I met in the display gardens just outside our offices.

Cindy and I figured we’d been asked to be there as “expert advisors” about the merits of the two different systems. What we didn’t realize was that Susan's plan was to feature the two of us just as prominently as the tomato supports.

There was no time for special outfits and no one around to style our hair. The two of us got planted right in the bed with the tomatoes and it was all over but the crying in about 10 minutes. (Strange to see how you can look your age on the outside and still feel like 35 on the inside…).

Read Ladders or Cages to learn more.

-Kathy LaLiberte, Director of Gardening

Gardeners You Should Know: Allan Armitage

Allan Armitage

Allan Armitage is one of the world’s leading experts on perennials and annuals. Born in Montreal, Quebec, and now living in Georgia, he has experience gardening in zones 3 through 8. As a professor of Horticulture at the University of Georgia, he oversees the University's test gardens and new plant programs.

Over the last 20 years, Allan has introduced dozens of new plants to the gardening world, including the number one selling verbena variety in the U.S., ‘Homestead Purple’, the chartreuse sweet potato vine ‘Margarita’ and a series of coleus that thrive in full sun. He is especially interested in plants that grow well in the hot and humid Southeast.

Allan is the author of six gardening books and hundreds of articles. With his incredible range of experience and sharp wit, he is always in demand as a speaker. His reference book, Herbaceous Perennial Plants, was designated as one of the most important horticultural books written in the past 75 years. It’s one that every professional keeps within reach.

If you have the opportunity to hear Allan speak at a garden show or special event, don't miss out on the experience. And if you find yourself in Athens, Georgia, with some time on your hands, stop by the University of Georgia test gardens and check out some of the great new plants that will soon be available at your local nursery.

-Ann Whitman, Staff Horticulturist