Plant this annual to spice up your garden or containers with long-lasting color.
New varieties feature novel fruit shapes and colors, and even foliage colors.
Keep an eye out for varieties that may also have better habits and longer bloom times.
Credit: Justin Hancock
Whether planted as specimens or in a mass planting, ornamental peppers are eye-catchers.
Ornamental peppers also make great additions to mixed containers or hanging baskets.
How and When to Plant Ornamental Pepper
Ornamental peppers are planted in the spring.
Credit: Dean Schoeppner
Dig a hole that is at least the size of the nursery pot and has the same depth.
Tamp down the soil and water the plants again to remove any air pockets.
Space the plants 18 to 24 inches apart.
Credit: Justin Hancock
Ornamental Pepper Care Tips
Growing ornamental peppers is as easy as growinggarden vegetable peppers.
Soil and Water
Well-drained soil is a must.
Like all peppers, they do best with a soil pH between6.5 and 7.0.
Credit: Marty Baldwin
Water the plants deeply whenever the top inch of the soil feels dry.
Ornamental peppers do best with a consistent supply of moisture.
Temperature and Humidity
Ornamental peppers are warm-weather plants that need temperatures above 75 degrees F to thrive.
Credit: Dean Schoeppner
The plant usually recovers once the weather cools down.
Ornamental peppers do not have any humidity requirements or preferences.
Also, there are determinate and indeterminate varieties of ornamental peppers.
Credit: Roy Inman
Determinate varieties bloom and set fruit all at once.
Indeterminate varieties bloom and fruit continuously until frost.
Fill it with well-draining potting mix.
Credit: Peter Krumhardt
Keep in mind that container plants require more frequent watering and fertilization than plants in the landscape.
Because ornamental pepper is an annual, repotting wont be necessary.
The plant is rarely browsed by deer.
Credit: Justin Hancock
Start the seeds indoorsabout 6 weeks before the last average frost date in your area.
Fill small pots with damp potting and place three seeds in each pot.
Barely cover them with a thin dusting of soil because the seeds need light to germinate.
Credit: Justin Hancock
The temperature should be at least 70 degrees F. Keep the soil evenly moist.
Place the posts in a sunny window or under grow lights.
Compact plants with purple foliage are good for containers or in beds and borders.
Credit: Scott Little
It grows 18 inches tall and wide.
‘Calico’
‘Calico’ bears attractive purple-and-white variegated foliage with purple fruits.
It grows 1 foot tall and 16 inches wide.
Credit: Marty Baldwin
‘Chilly Chilli’
This selection bears non-pungent ivory fruits that mature to bright red.
It grows 10 inches tall and 14 inches wide.
‘Pretty in Purple’
‘Pretty in Purple’ offers attractive purple fruits, stems, and leaves.
Credit: Justin Hancock
It’s a great ornamental as well as edible hot pepper.
Fruits turn red at maturity.
‘NuMex Twilight’
This cultivar bears cone-shaped purple fruits that mature to bright red.
‘Medusa’
‘Medusa’ produces mild fruits, a great option if you garden around children.
Fruits fade from yellow to orange and eventually red for a multicolor effect.
It also has purple flowers and round black fruits.
It grows 15 inches tall and 2 feet wide.
It’s always producing new fruits, so it’s continually showing a range of colors.
The fruits are non-pungent.
It grows 1 foot tall and 18 inches wide.
The flowers appear over toothed dark green or silver leaves (the foliage color differs betweenvarieties).
They’re great in beds and borders and containers, too.
Zone 911
Chrysanthemum
Chrysanthemumsare a must-have for the fall garden.
Beautiful chrysanthemum flowers, available in several colors, bring new life to a garden in the fall.
They work exceptionally well in container plantings and pots.
Verbena is oftengrown as an annual.
They have been grown for their looks, not their taste.
Some of them are very hot.
Hang the stems in a dry, warm, and well-ventilated place to dry.
