Terrence,

I'd start them mid- to late-May with the intention of getting them into the ground in mid- to late-June. That will guarantee the plants will be large enough to flower and set fruit before a freeze hits. Remember that if you want to grow some of the same varieties that you grew for spring tomatoes that you can take cuttings and have rooted plants in 2 weeks or less. (It is quite amazing!)

Since you are in zone 6, I think it might be best to stick with some of the tomatoes that mature fairly quickly. Bloody Butcher is a good one for that, as is Fourth of July. You might want to try some of the "early tomatoes" like Stupice, Matina or Kimberly. Celebrity is a good reliable hybrid, as is Merced, if you can find it (the seed company discontinued it, but some wholesale growers stocked up on a LOT of seed so they could continue producing it for a few years). Both Russian Persimmon and Nebraska Wedding have always set well in really hot weather for me, as has Dr. Wyche's Yellow (an Oklahoma heirloom). Sioux might be a good one for fall although I have only grown it as a summer tomato.

If you have trouble getting tomatoes to set in your area's August heat and humidity, you might want to try one of the hybrids specifically bred to flower and set fruit in such weather. These hybrids tend to have "Heat" or "Sun" in their name....Heat Wave II, Sunmaster, Sun Leaper, etc.

If you want long-keeper tomatoes that you can pick green just before the first freeze and store, wrapped in newspaper, for an extended period of time, Red October is a good one, as is Longkeeper, and George says Sunray keeps a long time as well. Or, go to the website for the Sand Hill Preservation Center and see what they have in their longkeeper section.

And, don't forget the bite-sized cherry, currant and grape tomatoes. All of them produce fruit fairly quickly, and I always have to have Black Cherry and SunGold for the fall.

I hope that gives you some good ideas.

Dawn

I had a couple of Cherrokee Purple get hit with frost. They are just now showing signs of recovery. Will they make a fall crop.

I have some Nebraska Wedding seeds and some Rutgers. Those and the Bloody Butcher should be enough to make me happy.

I will try rooting a few cuttings too.

I am going to put Sioux and Black Cherry on my list for next year.

Your Cherokee Purples should be just fine. I've had tomato plants freeze completely to the ground, come back, and bloom/set fruit just fine. Your CP might surprise you and give you some summer tomatoes, esp. if June is a little cooler than usual. And, obviously, you should get fall tomatoes from them. If the plant freezes back more than once though, it is often stunted forever. My Black Krim only froze once this year, so I should get fruit sometime this summer, but it probably will be later than usual.

Dawn