Pepper Plant Descriptions Spring 2011

     PEPPER OFFERINGS FOR 2011
           ORNAMENTAL AND EDIBLE

My peppers are coming along in the greenhouse. They should be ready for the sales. They will be offered in the 3-1/2" pots for $4 each. Please pre-order before the sales for best selection.

Big Bomb Hybrid Pepper
Move over Cherry Bomb - an even earlier cherry pepper is taking the market by storm! Big Bomb has it all - vigorous habit, fast cropping and extra-prolific yields of uniform, 2" fruits that explode with rapid maturity to a brilliant red. Fruits are moderately pungent, with thick walls that retain their shape when pickled. Resilient under a wide range of growing conditions.

Peter Red Pepper
The original strain from the Alfreys. Demand continues to far exceed supply of this ornery old heirloom, grown as much to shock the prudish as for its culinary value! Pods are 4 to 6" long, blunt-ended, and mature to a deep red - excellent for chili powder. Dense plants, 20 to 30" tall.

Baby Belle Pepper
These tasty, tiny, 2" by 2-1/2" sweet bells will certainly be the hit of any salad bar and are just the extra touch for that special gourmet dish. These mostly 4-lobed, emerald green beauties waste no time in turning mature bright red! Resistant to Tobacco Mosaic Virus.

Cherry Pick Hybrid Pepper
Fruits measure 1-1/4" by 1-1/4" and are uniformly rounded and sized. Disease resistant and about 25 percent larger than the old strains. Yield is superb, with tall, 24", vigorous plants setting loads of sweet, dark green fruits that mature to red, although normally harvested in the green stage. Let mature totally red for excellent pickled peppers.

Mini Belle Mix Pepper
A festive and charming mix of tiny bell peppers, just 1-1/4", on 24" plants. Prolific yields of fruits with sweet, firm flesh that is surprisingly thick and flavorful. All peppers start out green, and mature to a range of yellows and reds. Resistant to Tobacco Mosaic Virus.

Peperoncino Pepper
You've seen these little beauties pickled in gourmet shops. Our strain is imported directly from Athens, Greece, and is unsurpassed for purity and productivity. Abundant yields of thin, yellowish-green fruits, 2 to 4" long, stay sweet until late maturity. Harvest when fruits are at the green stage. Vigorous plants grow to 30" tall.

Sweet Banana Pepper
One of the most popular non-bell sweet peppers, excellent both fresh and cooked! Thick-walled fruits with sweet, mild, waxy flesh are prolifically produced on 16 to 24" plants with pendant fruits. Fruits start out a pale green, ripening to yellow, then red.

Filius Blue Pepper
As versatile ornamentally as it is to eat! Filius Blue plants produce unusual purple-blue fruits that are very hot when young, then mature to red and turn more mild.

Poinsettia Pepper
Ornamental, but edible - if you like your peppers hot! Long, thin fruits with pointed ends grow upright in clusters for a dramatic display. 2 to 3" long at maturity and brightly colored in a range of reds. A high yielder.

Twilight Hybrid Ornamental Pepper
This vibrant and unusual hybrid was developed at New Mexico State University based on a Thai chili pepper variety. Plants produce many small cone-shaped, upright fruits in a rainbow of colors as they mature from purple to yellow, orange and red at different stages, simultaneously. Clustered fruits are very hot, with a uniform size of about 1" in length. Green foliage and white flowers add to the appeal in pots and containers.

Tricolor Variegata Pepper
Use as a houseplant or for container planting! As it matures each leaf exhibits shades of white, green and purple in a never-ending, variegated display, with no two leaves the same. Purple stems and blooms add to the richness and charm. Fruits are hot, best used as a garnish, and turn from deep purple to bright red at maturity.

Sweet Pickle Pepper
The crowning glory of an elite class of peppers that is both highly ornamental and edible. Compact plants are covered with upright fruits in red, orange, yellow and purple, all at the same time! When fully ripened to a scarlet red, these plump, 2" fruits are very sweet, not at all hot or bitter. Enormously popular as a mixed-color pickling pepper, as its name suggests, but equally enjoyable when eaten raw.

Black Pearl Pepper
2006 AAS Winner! Looks marvelous in mixed containers and is the perfect backdrop in garden beds. Bushy, upright plants have a well-branched habit, producing shiny black fruits that are very hot to the taste. Fruits eventually mature dark red with a rounded, slightly pointed shape. Very vigorous, with a high tolerance to heat and humidity.

Chilly Chili Hybrid Pepper
This 2002 AAS Winner produces tapered, 2" long peppers that change from greenish-yellow to orange to red in a continual display set off by lush and attractive foliage. Although peppers are edible, their primary use is ornamental. Best when grown in full sunlight.

Medusa Pepper
Narrow, twisted, snake-like peppers named for Medusa's mythological hair! Compact, well-branched plants produce huge yields of 2 to 2 1/2" pointed peppers held prominently upright over dark green foliage. Plants, 6 to 8" typically display 40 to 50 mildly pungent fruits at the same time, covering a wide color spectrum ranging from ivory to yellow, orange and bright red.

Purple Flash Ornamental Pepper
Superb drought and heat tolerance in a gleaming ornamental whose almost- black leaves are layered to reveal flashes of electric purple. Glossy black peppers are attractive, but too hot to be palatable. Uniform plants are compact and mounded habit is ideal in mixed containers and beds, spreading to about 20".

Why Is It Still Snowing?

Okay, it's the second to last day of April. Why am I waking up to a blizzard? Should I be planting my potatoes in the snow? (usually planted on Good Friday but delayed because of snow already).
 Plants in the greenhouse are coming along. Had a few crop failures, but getting re-seeded. I want to think it's because I didn't get the brewed compost tea on the seedlings when they first emerged. We had some power issues going on and the pump that aerates the liquids was off and the tea went bad so I had to throw it out. The live good bacteria that forms when oxygen is added to the compost solution dies and turns nasty when it is oxygen- deprived and can cause problems in itself. But, I have a fresh batch brewing and hopefully it will right the damping-off and whatever else is plaguing the greenhouse. Cool temps and too much moisture wreaks havoc and causes all kinds of fungal and bacterial problems.
I have been very busy since we last talked. A great adventure to Lake Roosevelt and Davenport for sales and shopping with daughter Betsy. Creating and planning for our first spring garden show plus three more upcoming sales and the opening of the Farmers Market season.

My ad is out in the local Exchange and Nikels Worth newspapers and  pictures and descriptions of my tomatoes and peppers I am offering this year should be appearing on my website www.pattisgardenexpressions.com.

     PATTI’S GARDEN EXPRESSIONS
                    MOTHERS DAY WEEKEND SALE
              SATURDAY MAY 7th & SUNDAY MAY 8th
                                 10 am - 4 pm
                   5105 N. Idaho Road  Newman Lake
                                 509-226-0321

           Hanging Baskets of beautiful blooms
           Dozens of varieties of Tomato Plants
           Assorted Vegetable, Fruit & Berry Plants         
           Hostas, other Perennials
           Farm-Fresh Eggs
           Container Plantings
           Garden Décor
           Water Features and Aquatic Plants
           Handmade Delights

    And SATURDAY MAY 14th from 9 AM - 5 PM
      The 12th Annual SPOKANE GARDEN EXPO
                 1810 North Greene Street
            Spokane Community College Lair

Also visit me at the Kootenai County Farmers Market
  Every Saturday May thru October 9 AM - 1:30 PM
        Corner Hwy 95 & Prairie Ave. Hayden, Idaho

     Visit www.pattisgardenexpressions.com  or
            unfitgardener.blogspot.com
                    for more details   

PLUS!!  Saturday May 21st  11 am - 4 pm:
               GRAND OPENING
    of  my JUNQUE SHOPPE & PLANT STORE
                  “RE-TREASURED” @
EAST FARMS SUPPLY - a feed and seed store
Located at 21518 E. Gilbert Road, OTIS ORCHARDS
                     (509) 928 - 3616



 Our first spring show was a new one this year. Put on by the horticulture class at the community college. It was a bit early for alot of plants, but still there were some great items for sale. Fresh cut flowers and produce form greenhouses and all kinds of garden-related crafts and products. I really loved the orchids at one booth and even found time to sit in on her seminar on how to grow them. I hope some day to be able to have one of mine re-bloom! And towards the end of the day, a belly dancing festival showed up and performed dances and had costumes for sale. Highly entertaining! I just might have to try that!

Then we had to prepare for our Easter event here at home. That meant the crafts, seed packets,  labels, papers and everything else that had accumulated all winter on the dining room table and kitchen island had to be temporarily banished elsewhere. Not enough time for a proper 'spring cleaning' but a good scrubbing of everything and a little straightening. It was good to see the table once more and I had forgotten how nice empty counters look. I even got some yard work done and managed to prune and rake and get the pond started back up for the season. Then the egg decorating began! All four grandchildren creating masterpieces for the Bunny to hide. We had an exciting egg hunt and at the end all four children were given  live bunnies to have as a pet.
Dan has found only three eggs so far that were missed. For some reason the Easter Bunny forgets to count how many eggs he hides. And then a wonderful dinner with all the family. We combined Easter this year with Dan and his Dads birthday as it was the following day. The weather even cooperated and made it a perfect Holiday.
 I didn't watch my intake of fluids well enough getting ready and attending the sale and missed several days of work because I was so dizzy and weak, so I went back to the hospital and was treated for dehydration plus they worked on the opening between the esophagus and stomach where their was a narrowing that was keeping me from eating solid foods without pain and vomiting. It seems to be doing better now so I am looking forward to eating a bit more and gaining some energy for everything I want to do! And make sure I drink enough fluids.
Hopefully the weather will turn around. We have had record cold and rainfall and snow this spring. But at least no tornados! My prayers go out to those who have lost family, friends and property.

Happy Easter! God Bless

Upcoming Events

PATTI’S GARDEN EXPRESSIONS
                MOTHERS DAY WEEKEND SALE
          SATURDAY MAY 7th & SUNDAY MAY 8th
                                10 am - 4 pm
                  5105 N. Idaho Road  Newman Lake
                              509-226-0321

           Hanging Baskets of beautiful blooms
           Dozens of varieties of Tomato Plants
           Assorted Vegetable Plants
           Farm-Fresh Eggs
           Container Plantings
           Garden Décor
           Water Features and Aquatic Plants
           Handmade Delights

    And SATURDAY MAY 14th from 9 AM - 5 PM
      The 12th Annual SPOKANE GARDEN EXPO
                 1810 North Greene Street
            Spokane Community College Lair

Also visit me at the Kootenai County Farmers Market
  Every Saturday May thru October 9 AM - 1:30 PM
        Corner Hwy 95 & Prairie Ave. Hayden, Idaho

     Visit www.pattisgardenexpressions.com  or
            unfitgardener.blogspot.com
                    for more details

scrapbooking give-away

http://angelwingsandbeautifulthings.blogspot.com/2011/03/blog-candy.html