I'm in zone 5/6 and had no problem growing big productive poblanos (ancho 101). They did better than some of my italian frying peppers. The only problem I had was that I wanted red ripe peppers for drying and last year's cool summer pushed them back so that I mostly got alot of mature green peppers (great for roasting and freezing).

Hi spiced_ham. Thx. What do you do with frying peppers? I always see them at the farmers market and I'm sure I could grow them too. But I dont know what they're used for.

Happy Holidays! That's good news about the poblanos!

I grew poblanos in 2008 for the first time. I really fell in love with them. I grew Ancho St. Martin from Seeds of Change in 2008 and 2009, as well as some generic "poblanos" purchased as started plants at a local g.c. this year. They did better in 2008 than 2009, but did decently this year despite the horrible cold summer.

The fruits are great. They have just a little bit of heat, well within my tolerance. When fully red and mature, and with the seeds removed, that seems to go away even, and it is just a very intensely flavored, almost "fruity" red pepper great for cooking. I dried a bunch and ground them for really nice paprika.

Mine this past year were wonderful. They never got red but were both hardy and prolific. I lost a lot of peppers this year to blight, but the poblanos were untouched. I was also pleased with my anaheims as well. Both are great roasted on the grill and stuffed with a cream cheese mixture.

Brook

Italian frying peppers are sweet red (or yellow) peppers, just not bell-shaped, and not so thick walled. They are usually easier to grow up north than bell peppers (so I have been told). The name is a bit confusing because I associate "frying" with fried food. Saute'ing peppers might be a better name because you saute' them the same way you would red bell peppers for peppers and onions etc., also good roasted, or raw in salads. There is probably a bit more variability in flavor amongst varieties than with red bell peppers.