As a true cottage gardener, I plant edibles in and amongst the flowering plants. One of my favorite things to plant in my cottage garden are ornamental peppers. With fruits in shades of white, yellow, orange, red and deep purple, these plants add a splash of color to any landscape. Some, like “Bouquet” and even the common tabasco pepper, have multiple colors on the plant at one time. Because of the compact growth of many varieties, I love growing them as container plants, and believe me, they get a lot of attention from visitors.
While all of the ornamental hot peppers are edible, I found out the hard way that they are usually fiery hot. A little goes a long way, so try them in small quantities before popping a whole one into your mouth or into a dish. These are just a few of the many ornamental pepper varieties, and some of my favorites.
- Mini bell peppers in your grocery store only come in packages with mixed colors, and there is a reason for that. The fruit on these compact and prolific-bearing plants changes from purple to red as it matures, with shades of yellow and orange along the way. You have to shade them from the hot summer sun, though, so plant in a location that only gets morning sun up until noon.
- “Bouquet” has more colors on the plant at once than any other ornamental pepper. The 3/4 inch long, upright growing fruits turn from a lilac-purple to white to yellow to orange to red, with all shades in between. The purple-green stems, leaves and purple-white flowers all add to the color display. It can grow to 30 inches tall, and can be pruned to keep it bushier with more fruit.
- “Medusa” is a cultivar with twisted, finger-like upright -3-inch fruits in colors of white, yellow, orange and red, growing in clusters that look like bouquets. The plants are compact, only growing to about 18 inches to 2 feet in height. Unlike many of its cousins, this is a sweet chili pepper.
- “Black Pearl” is one of the most beautiful ornamental peppers to come along in years. The original plant has dark purple leaves, but there are now cultivars with variegated purple/white foliage at the tips of the stems, which is the one I grow and fell completely in love with. The tiny round fruits grow in clusters at the ends of the stems, and ripen to a dark red. As a container plant, this is a a real show stopper. I’ve had people actually come to my front door to ask what it is and where they can get one.
- “Calico” is another of my favorites, with its striking tri-colored lavender/green/white foliage and small dark red fruits. While it doesn’t bear as well a some of the ornamentals, the foliage alone makes it worth adding to your garden.
- “Pretty in Purple” is one of the shortest varieties of edible ornamental peppers, only growing to 12 inches tall. The tiny, almost round peppers turn from purple to yellow to orange to red. With deep purple stems and purple-green leaves, this is a perfect plant for a 3-gallon container, and one that gets a lot of “oohs” and “aahs” in my yard.
These are only a few of the dozens of ornamental and edible pepper varieties available for home gardeners. With new varieties being introduced every year, there is a seemingly endless array to choose from. Try a couple and you’ll be hooked like I am.
CAUTION: Peppers sold as ornamentals may have been treated with toxic chemicals. Only buy those sold in the vegetable section of your garden center, or grow them from seed.
