Pepper Profiles – Page 11

Roatan Pumpkin Habanero Guide: Heat, Flavor, Uses

What are Routan pumpkin habanero peppers? Some habaneros are just monsters among monsters. Like the wicked Red Savina habanero, the Roatan pumpkin habanero punches well beyond its weight class (100,000 to 500,000 Scoville heat units), holding the potential to reach super-hot status within its pumpkin-like …

Jalafuego Pepper Guide: Heat, Flavor, Uses

by Matt Bray

What are jalafuego peppers? Like everything in your life super-sized? Meet the Jalafuego pepper. It’s everything you love about the popular jalapeño pepper, just more of it. This hybrid, often nearly doubling the size of a traditional jalapeño, makes one tasty popper pepper – not only …

NuMex Big Jim Guide: Heat, Flavor, Uses

by Matt Bray

What are NuMex Big Jim peppers? New Mexican peppers are often big-bodied — from Anaheim peppers to Hatch chilies they are meaty and thick. But none hold a candle to the likes of the NuMex Big Jim. It’s the giant of the pepper world topping …

Filius Blue Pepper Guide: Heat, Flavor, Uses

by Matt Bray

What are Filius Blue peppers? Shades of blue are one of the least common color schemes of pepper plants. The Filius Blue, therefore, stands out among ornamental peppers, with its tiny chilies taking on deep dark indigo blue and purplish hues. It’s a compact chili …

Apache Pepper Guide: Heat, Flavor, Uses

by Matt Bray

What are Apache peppers? Best known for its compact shape, the Apache pepper is a dwarf plant perfect for container gardening, both indoors (in a sunny corner or window sill) and out. But don’t let the size of the plant lull you into thinking there’s …

Naga Viper Guide: Heat, Flavor, Uses

by Matt Bray

What are Naga Viper peppers? What do you get when you cross three super-hots? The Naga Viper. It sounds like a crazy pepper joke, but this extreme chili – a wicked offspring of the Trinidad Moruga Scorpion, Naga Morich, and ghost pepper (Bhut Jolokia) – …

Explosive Ember Pepper Guide: Heat, Flavor, Uses

by Matt Bray

What are Explosive Ember peppers? Ornamental peppers come in many colors, often brightening up landscaping like Christmas lights, but few have the sense of drama of the Explosive Ember pepper. It’s a bold look – pods in shades of jewel-tone purple and red against dark …

Chinese 5-Color Pepper: Unexpected Shades

by Matt Bray

A beauty that brings in shades of purple and cream…

Scoville heat units (SHU): 30,000 – 50,000
Jalapeño reference point: 4 to 20 times hotter
Origin: China
Products and seeds: Chinese 5-color pepper on Amazon

With its many hues and dark foliage, the Chinese 5-color pepper is a real beauty in the garden. It’s multi-colored, like the aurora pepper or Bolivian rainbow, but what makes it stand out from the pack is the unexpected shades it takes. Layers of purple and cream are in play, along with the more familiar yellows, oranges, and reds. Best of all, the Chinese 5-color pepper, even with its significant medium heat, delivers in the taste department, too – more than most other ornamental peppers – so it’s a great fit for edible landscaping projects.

Aurora Pepper Guide: Heat, Flavor, Uses

by Matt Bray

What are aurora peppers? With its rounded bulb-like shape and its many colors, the aurora pepper is a real crowd-pleaser in the garden. It brightens a space – like its name suggests – with shades of green, purple, yellow, orange, and red all on the …

Carmen Pepper Guide: Heat, Flavor, Uses

by Matt Bray

What are Carmen peppers? The Carmen pepper is the epitome of why you shouldn’t judge a pepper by its shape. It looks like a jumbo hot pepper – with its curved horn-like shape and tapering body. But underneath these hot looks, there’s no heat to …