A personal favorite of mine here in Phx is Silvery Fir Tree. I'm currently experimenting for the the first time with Flamenco which is a cross between SFT and Floridade. Supposed to do well in the heat. My plants are putting out fruit, we'll see.

One that did really well for me last year was Super Sioux. Growing again this year and looking good so far.

Signed: EverHopeful :-)

In the past I've had luck with Early Girl, but they're very prone to blossom end rot. I've come to the conclusion that I control the weather in Phoenix. If I take the chance and plant tomatoes, we have a cold spring, which overnight turns into blazing hot temperatures. If I decide the heck with it, I'm not wasting my time and money growing tomatoes anymore, we have a lovely, long warm spring and the hot weather starts later. Happens every time.

I'm a big fan of the heirloom mini yellow pear. Hard to put on a hamburger or a sanwich of course, hah, but so tasty. 'Sungold' is my very favorite for taste. For slicing, 'Early Girl' has worked well for me over the years.

Of course, I grow them all only in the cooler months--I rip them out once the blast furnace starts. No heroics in my garden.

Fun discussion/replies! Happy gardening!

stupice and pearson have done well for me for medium sized tomatoes, sungold and wild cherry for small size never had luck with larger beefsteak types, a dry farmed early girl can be a special piece of fruit skin is a bit tough but tomatoes are sweet, I also don't try during the hottest period in Summer, don't know what can actually pull through.

I'll put in another vote for big beef. I've liked pretty much everything about those tomatoes.

I agree with Grant on the best for flavor being the cherry tomato called Sungold. It's June 17th and mine are still going strong. Of course I have them covered for part of the day with sunscreen.

I know that they are hybrids but mine readily reseed and those free plants set delicious fruit as well and lots of it. They also seem to be more drought and heat tolerant.

boxcar wiley is the tomato for me in Arizona

Kinda old thread but just wanted to also put in a vote for Yellow Pear tomatoes. They seem to be one of the only varieties that continue to thrive regardless of the heat level and taste wonderful. They also don't seem to be bothered by birds anywhere near as much as red varieties. I never have great success with large varieties either although I've had decent success with Early Girls and Romas especially if put under 50%+ shade screen as soon as it gets over 100 degrees.

Tomatoes also have done way way better in my raised beds vs containers, even very large pots.

Good feedback, Brandon, thanks for posting it. I'm a huge fan of those mini yellow pears, and you make a good point, the birds rarely bother them too. I think a lot of us find that the large ones don't do as well as the smaller ones--I don't even mess with anything larger than 'Early Girl' these days. Since I refuse to cover plants summer or winter my tomatoes are dead, Dead, DEAD now, but I'll start new plants from seed soon. Happy gardening!