Nothing says summer like the smell of a fresh, ripe, juicy tomato. It's warm and slightly spicy fragrance is unmistakable.

Planting tomatoes in your garden or on your patio is a wonderful way to celebrate summer. Tomatoes do have a reputation for being finicky. Late blight can turn your prized plants into black mush overnight.

But don't let fear of blight stop you from planting them. If you plant your tomatoes in a warm spot that's sheltered from the rain you'll grow excellent tomato plants to maturity.

Some tried and true varieties include Early Girl, Ultra Girl, Oregon Spring and Money Maker. These are all suited to our short Northwest summers. The fruits on these plants are generally mid-sized and multi-purpose.

Everyone loves beefsteak tomatoes. Fruits on these plants are huge, meaning you could feed an army with one tomato! This season Urbangreenery was proud to offer heirloom varieties such as German, Striped German, Caspian Pink, Brandywine and Yellow Brandywine. The Brandywine varieties are showstoppers. The fruits weigh about 9 to 10oz each and are incredibly flavorful.

The heirloom varieties generally don't produce the same amount of fruit but what you lose in quantity you gain in flavour.

This year we also carried a selection of mini tomatoes such as Sweet One Hundred, Sweet Million, Thai Pink, which has ruby pink fruits and a tomato called Black Plum with dark red, egg-shaped fruits.

Most tomatoes should be planted where they'll have plenty of room to grow. Most varieties also need to be staked.

Varieties that do well in containers include Money Maker and Tumbler Tom which will tumble out of a hanging basket and give you small egg sized tomatoes.

Growing your own tomatoes is well worth it. You can't beat the flavour. There is simply no comparison between a store-bought tomato and one picked fresh and ripe from your own garden. I hope you planted some this year. If you didn't, do it next season. There are so many varieties available - one of them is bound to work in your garden.