Ornamental peppers are a fun way to liven up your fall outdoor spaces. Several varieties are available to consider.

Black Pearl produces peppers that look like shiny black marble-sized pearls. With age the peppers turn a brilliant red. Clusters of red and black peppers nestle atop the dark black leaves during the fall season. Black Pearl can grow up to two feet tall and almost as wide, so give them plenty of space to spread. These peppers are extremely hot and are considered to be inedible with scoville units above 30,000.

Explosive Ember produces clusters of conical shaped fruit with colors ranging from dark purple to fiery red. The green foliage is tinged purple, while the stems and flowers are a solid deep purple. Explosive Ember grows to about twelve inches tall and wide. Although these peppers are grown for ornamental purposes, they are edible and have enough punch to make a nice salsa.

Sangria ornamental pepper produces narrow tapering peppers about one and one half inches long and one quarter inch wide. The colors range from pale lilac, cool purple, warm orange to festive red. The peppers are set in clusters amongst green foliage with small white flowers sprinkled about. The habit of Sangria is somewhat spreading, with a height of ten inches and a spread of about eighteen inches. The peppers are considered nonpungent, (not hot).

Peppa Orangina looks like a miniature orange tree. It is compact, well branched, has green leaves and is covered in half inch round fruits that start out a pale chartreuse and turn a radiant orange. It grows about ten inches tall and twelve inches wide. The peppers are considered pungent.

Purple Flash pepper is unique. It has black leaves splattered with purple and white streaks. The insignificant flowers are purple. The fruit are small, glossy and round, turning from jet black to fire engine red. The small peppers are in clusters amongst the variegated leaves. Purple Flash has a nice mounding bushy habit. It grows to fifteen inches tall and about twenty inches across. The tiny little peppers pack a punch and are hot.

For good pepper production and strong leaf coloration, place plants in a sunny, warm location. With continuous blooming and ongoing fruit production, ornamental peppers offer long lasting fall color. Easy to grow …. Easy way to Pepper-Up the Fall landscape.