Fenton Friday: Zingy Zinnias and Citrine Success

 Ripe Tomato on Tomato 'Citrine' plant on July 20, 2026.

Guest Blog by Maya Hand

I had never gardened before this summer, beyond occasionally weeding with my mom when I was little! I grew up with my mom growing many herbs and flowering plants in our backyard. She had squash and zucchini some years, and she always had cherry tomatoes, which I enjoyed plucking and eating off the vine. She usually planted the Tomato 'Super Sweet 100.'

 

On June 1, I transplanted Tomato ‘Citrine’ and The Purple Tomato™ seedlings into the community garden plot on Fenton Street. I planted Zinnia Zydeco™ Fire and Zinnia ‘Crestar Fieldgrown Mix’ seeds in the pollinator strip.

 

There was a good deal of weekly weeding to do in the plot and pollinator strip throughout the summer. The main aggressors were morning glory vine, mulberry weed trees, and crabgrass. The most ease I had pulling up the was when using a weeder after a rain. The moisture that remained in the soil helped get the roots loose. There was one Mulberry Weed tree next to the Purple Tomato that persisted even though we kept it covered by a piece of old tile. I cut it back each week, along with uncovered side shoots.

 

I watered and weeded every Monday when fellow intern Koree, editor Kathy Jentz, and I went to the garden together. Kathy watered the plants during the rest of the time (except when rain did the watering for us). There were several Mondays when I added a bit of fish fertilizer to the water for the tomatoes.

 

The Zinnia seeds were up by the end of the first week of June.

Zinnia seedlings on July 6, 2026.

On June 22, I added a Tomato ‘Fourth of July’ seedling and an African Marigold 'Lanna Lace' seedling to the same patch as the 'Citrine' and The Purple Tomato™. I also top-dressed around the Tomatoes with a mix of aged horse manure and coffee compost.

The first ripe 'Citrine' Tomato appeared later that week -- they are ready to eat when they turn a beautiful light golden-yellow. By the end of June, the 'Citrine' Tomato plant was continuing to produce fruit, and the Marigold had one flower and a few buds forming. Sometime in the second week of July, Kathy saw one 'Fourth of July' Tomato ripening before it disappeared (likely eaten by a rodent). 

Since the Zinnias had still not flowered by the last week of July, I thinned them out (removed several seedlings so they weren't crowding each other so much). The Zinnias started blooming the following week! I regretfully forgot to take a photo of them in bloom.

We entered one flower from the 'Lanna Lace' Marigold into the Montgomery County Agricultural Fair in August, and it received a first place ribbon in one of the marigold categories. We also entered the The Purple Tomato™ under the "Most Unusual Tomato" category, but as they were not fully ripe at that point, they did not earn a ribbon.

Me with our first-place African Marigold 'Lanna Lace' flower,
at the Montgomery County Agricultural Fair, on August 18, 2026.

Of the tomato plants, the Tomato 'Citrine' grew the largest and produced the most fruit. I did not see another 'Fourth of July' Tomato after the one that disappeared. I saw unripe tomatoes on the Purple Tomato plant. However, Kathy harvested some ripe tomatoes from the Purple Tomato™ when I was not at the plot. My last day at the garden was August 10. By then, I had tasted a few 'Citrine' Tomatoes!

Tomato 'Citrine' and African Marigold 'Lanna Lace' on August 10, 2026.

Despite being told by two cooks in my life (my mom and stepdad) that I have a developed palate, I am unable to describe the flavor and texture of the 'Citrine' Tomatoes in a way that is distinct from similar cherry tomatoes. I don’t have a very developed intra-vegetable palate!

I tried the nine varieties at our TomatoTaste at the FreshFarm Silver Spring Market and liked 'Citrine' the best. (Note: Those tomatoes were from farms in the DMV, not us.) But I was too busy managing the table to pay close attention to the experience of eating each. I will say that that I like its combination of lightly sweet with a touch of sour -- and there's that satisfying snap that all fresh cherry tomatoes have when you bite into them.

What are you growing and harvesting in your garden this week?

About the Author: Maya Hand was an intern with Washington Gardener Magazine this summer 2026 session.

About Fenton Friday: Every Friday during the growing season, I'll be giving you an update on my community garden plot at the Fenton Street Community Garden just across the street from my house in zone 7 Mid-Atlantic MD/DC border. I'm plot #16. It is a 10 ft x 20 ft space and this is our 15th year in the garden. (It opened in May 2011.) See past posts about our edible garden by putting "Fenton"  into the Search box above (at the top, left on this blog).