Cherokee Purple live heirloom tomato plants. 3 plants ready to transplant into your garden.

The Cherokee Purple is a legendary, dusky-pink and dark-purple heirloom tomato with a complex, smoky-sweet flavor. Its story began in 1990 when Tennessee resident John Green mailed a packet of unlabelled seeds to tomato expert Craig LeHoullier. Greens neighbor, who had grown them for a century, claimed the variety was originally cultivated by the Cherokee Nation.

Fascinated by the tomato's deep color and sweet flavor, Craig LeHoullier named it the "Cherokee Purple" and shared it with seed exchanges in the early 1990s. It quickly exploded in popularity, becoming a staple for backyard gardeners and heirloom enthusiasts nationwide.

While the Native American origin story has been a major part of its lore, horticultural historians and experts continue to debate its true roots. Because tomatoes are not natively indigenous to North America, some historians speculate the seeds could have been introduced to the Cherokee by Spanish explorers, early European pioneers, or escaped slaves who integrated into the Cherokee society.

As a beefsteak-type fruit (weighing roughly 8 to 12 ounces), the Cherokee Purple thrives in the humid climate of the American South and is an indeterminate variety, meaning it will keep producing fruit until frost kills the plant. Because of its unusually mellow, wine-like depth and dense flesh, it is widely considered one of the best-tasting tomatoes for fresh dishes like caprese, salads, and classic summer sandwiches. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]