Ornamental Pepper, Nippon Taka for cutflower arrangements. We are also growing Thai Hot for wreaths in the fall.......

Yes, but you do need to warn customer if you are using a hot pepper. Children, in particular, tend to pick at them and that could be dangerous. I've seen children pick hot peppers off market stands -- yikes.

Am growing Cheyenne Hybrid for the first this year. Will be interested in how they do. Bet Hot Lemon and Hot Paper Lantern would be pretty in certain arrangements. Suggest you test the hydrating needs. Have sometimes used short branches of Super Chili Hyb. in small fall bouquets - very colorful.

Have seen interesting all-vegetable arrangements made for displays. Might not go at a general market, but if you have some for special orders or your own use, etc., should be interesting.

Maybe a little parental control for the little tikes. Could they possible teach the child they don't have the right to touch or pick at everything? Then maybe market vendors would not be so paranoid about their product. We don't have to be the plant or vegetable police for the world.
I have used peppers, kale, okra, ornamental corn, little pumpkins, and goards in fall arrangements.
Erin

Thanks for the replies! So, I will give the peppers a try. Yep, I used to drive a school bus, I know what you mean about Parental control and kiddies..........but thats another forum, entirely :)

Someone posted last year about a neat tiny purple pepper that he/she grew/used in bouquets. Even gave a link to the seed source, which I visited, then never got around to ordering seeds.

Does anyone remember that message/pepper name/ link? Would be fun to find some retailer already selling it and give one plant a try. It's way too late to start seeds, I imagine. Well, we could order them now, if we knew the name & vendor.

An aside: One of the NEATEST fall arrangements I've ever seen was outside a local antique store. Owner put out a plain med-dark brown old farm table, (maybe pine), and then "just" a few strands of orange pyracantha berries on top of the table. SO cool, SO understated. I've been wanting to grow pyracanthas ever since, but haven't because of my shade.

Back to peppers: would ANY ornamental pepper plant be useable in a bouquet? ARE the ornamentals edible, or just so very hot one wouldn't WANT to eat them?

Planning Peppers Prodigiously in Perpetuity Perhaps!

Susi.

The purple pepper might have been 'Embers' or 'Glowing Embers' - purple leaves and fruit and very showy. The fruit turns orange red when really ripe.

I have seen folks selling dried pepper plants - stalks, leaves, and fruit at Christmas time that were very festive. Red and green. Not sure how well they sold but I thought it was ingenious.

Hi SusiQ, I think the purple pepper you are talking about is from the tomato grower's supply company www.tomatogrowers.com
I saw that posting too, and ordered seeds for filius blue--which has small purple upright fruit that turn red eventually. The leaves are supposed to be violet tinged. The other one I got is largo purple which has violet colored foliage, and the peppers mature to deep red. I am not sure which one the posting mentioned so I am trying both.
Oh, I also got pretty purple pepper, which has dark purple fruit and grow 2 1/2' tall.
I am not sure if they will be any good in bouquets, but am trying them to satisfy my curiosity. They are only about 7" tall right now. I'm not sure they will mature where I am. We don't get too hot here. Any temperatures over 80'F are unusual--and we all complain when it gets that hot--at least the people who work outside, like me.
I hope this helps.

Maplea

I bought the ornamental peppers a few years ago and have had beautiful pepper plants every year since.The ones i have are the ones with the dark purple leaves,almost black,the peppers are a beautiful shade of purple,then they turn orange/red.I have a lot of Hispanic neighbors and every year they come and get some to eat.I gave 2 of them some baby plants last year.They tell me they are super hot.

I myself just love them for their color.
Kathi

Maplea
How did your pepper trial go? You mentioned pretty purple pepper, filius blue, largo purple. Which ones did the best?
Patty

Patty: Well, this was the first year of growing peppers, for me. I live on the west coast of canada, so I wouldn't say we get the hottest summers, either. I know peppers love heat. Nevertheless, the pretty purple peppers were quite short, about 14" tall. I cut some to sell in straight bunches--maybe 3 stems. Surprisingly, they did sell. I didn't use most of them, though, as they were too short. The filius blue was taller, about 2 1/2', and the foliage was very dark purple, and the peppers, almost black looking. They were okay in bouquets, with sunflowers and mums (the only thing I had left when they matured). I am not sure what happened to my filius blue peppers--did I not sow the seeds, or what---I should keep better records, I know.
Overall, I don't think I would grow them again. It was educational and interesting to see what they would turn out like, in this climate.
I did grow some paprika supreme peppers, to make ristras out of. Since we had a late fall, they did fairly well, and I put row cover on them the last three weeks. Now I have them, but I don't know quite what to do with them. I don't have enough for a wreath, but maybe a swag or two. Then again, I am not sure if I will try them again, either, though it was fun to grow peppers, for the first time.
Maplea

Thank you for the info maplea. I enjoy growing peppers. Since I don't like to eat them, it's great that I can sell them at market. Now I can arrange with them. I'm trying the 'nippon taka' next year.

Did you use black mulch to keep the area you grew them on warmer?

Patty

Hi Patty: No I didn't use black plastic mulch, but they were in raised beds, about 10" above the main ground level, and I used that white row cover, in the beginning of the season, and the end, to help them out a bit. But it sounds like a good idea (keep the weeds down, too), and I should look into that, for next year. I have t-tape to water them, so that could go under the black mulch, and, voila, I would be all set.
Where are you getting your "nippon taka" peppers? They sound interesting, but I haven't seen them in any of the seed catalogues I have.
Always interested in trying something new.
Maplea

The 'nippon taka' peppers are from Johnnys. They have their peppers on the top of the stem instead of all along it. I'm just trying a pkt to see if I like them.
Patty

They're very similar to "Poinsettia" peppers, which I've seen sold by some mainly-tomato supply houses. One year, I tried both types. (Nippon Taku had performed fine for me, but Poinsettia was cheaper.) It may just have been a fluke, but I got better germination with Nippon Taku and the plants were somewhat more productive. as well.

I grow the cayennes just for myself. I dry them, and then wire them onto fresh fir garland in bunches. Add a few pine cones, and you have a nice natural looking Christmas decoration. It looks nice on the mantle.
Cheryl

I love the Nippon Takas, but sometimes our growing season is a bit short to get them fully colored. When fully turned and dried they are amazing! They hold up outside all winter. I love to stuff my flower planters with some evergreen cuttings, some pine cones and the bright red peppers - if we have any we haven't sold.