When it comes to adding a big splash of color to your patio, porch, or landscape, think ornamental peppers! That’s right, ornamental peppers! These plants have exploded in popularity the last 5 years, and are being used now to create incredible hanging baskets and planters!
Many gardeners are finding out that they are the perfect choice for a multitude of reasons.
The purple and reds of the sangria pepper
Ornamental peppers are naturally bug, heat and drought resistant. Unlike their larger pepper plant relatives, they are bred to have hundreds of tiny colorful peppers that cover the foliage. It makes for an incredibly unique and beautiful display of color for all types of containers.
While many traditional annual plant varieties can struggle in the hot, scorching sun, ornamental peppers thrive on it!
Instead of drooping and sweltering at midday, they stand strong and proud. And with their fiery colorful peppers, many can even be used to spice up everything from salsa to soups and salads.
As their popularity grows, it seems like each year, more and more new varieties become available. They even make for a great plant directly in flowerbeds as well!
Here below are 4 varieties that work incredibly well in all types of containers. From patio planters, to hanging baskets – these are sure to be a conversation piece. Even better, the seeds of all of these are easy to save from year to year Simply take off a few ripe peppers, let them dry, and you can have them all over again next year!
4 Great Ornamental Peppers For Containers And Hanging Baskets
Sangria
Sangria (left) and Chili Chili peppers (right)
The Sangria are one of the most versatile, beautiful ornamental pepper plants around! Their compact, bushy style, make them perfect for pots and hanging baskets. They are a very hardy and tolerant plant – and get by with less watering than other annuals.
You get beautiful dark green foliage in the early spring, followed by hundreds of slim dark purple peppers by early summer. In fall, they turn a brilliant red and orange for incredible new color to the landscape. The seeds are easy to save for the next year’s planting as well.
Chili Chili
Chili Chili peppers are a compact, ornamental plant that are perfect to use in hanging baskets. The peppers turn from green to a dark yellow-orange,and then to a bright red. Each plant is covered in peppers, and by mid summer, it’s hard to even find the green leaves buried underneath. They are hot and spicy, and a great treat for those that like to indulge in hot peppers.
McMahon Tiny Bird Pepper
The McMahon Peppers unique round shape and red color in late fall
These pepper plants have hundreds of 1/2″ round colored peppers in all shades of yellow and orange. In late fall, they turn to a brilliant red.
One thing is for sure – don’t be fooled by its small size when it comes to heat. It packs some real punch! They are great for salsa and soups when you need to add some great hot flavor. The unique round shape of the colorful peppers make this plant a conversation piece when used as a patio planter. Mature plants grow to about 8 to 10″ high, making it wonderful for all types of container growing.
Calico
Calico peppers are another compact plant that produce hundreds of hot, fiery, and beautiful little peppers. Perfect for adding heat and color to salsa, they are also great in hanging baskets to provide a splash of brightness almost anywhere! The bright red and orange are a perfect companion to the purple and reds of the sangria peppers.
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