Also known as the common bird pepper, this is the tiny ovoid form that is about the size of a pea. Extremely hot, the sensation reportedly disappears rapidly. Plants are prolific, growing wild in parts of the southern U.S. 90 days.
Very unusual and ornamental pepper plant is variegated both on the foliage and the peppers themselves. Both leaves and fruit are striped with creamy white and green, with the peppers eventually turning orange-red. Very hot fruit, 1 to 2 inches long, was used to season fish and shellfish in Baltimore and Philadelphia back in the 1930’s and 1940’s. 75 days.
This wonderful seasoning pepper from Trinidad may look like a typical habanero, but it has no heat. What it does have is delectable pepper flavor that adds so much to make Caribbean dishes really special. Pendant peppers are 1 to 1½ inches long and mature to golden orange-yellow. Plants are tall and prolific. 80 to 85 days.
Developed by the Chile Pepper Institute, this pepper has all the wonderful flavor of a habanero but with very little heat, only about 800 Scoville units. The distinctive habanero citrus-like aroma and flavor remains and many people can enjoy it better without the searing heat of a regular habanero. The word “suave” means smooth or mild in Spanish, and that is descriptive of the mellow flavor this variety delivers. 95 days.
Fiery hot, this is the one that has made Tabasco sauce famous. Green leaf strain that grows best in the South and East. Light yellow-green peppers turn to red and grow on tall plants. 80 days.
Small, thin-walled glossy green peppers are popular as tasty appetizers that are most often pan-fried in a little olive oil and sprinkled with salt. Usually the flavor is bright and a little sweet, but every so often a pepper will appear with a shot of spicy heat. It is said that 1 out of 10 to 20 peppers will be hot. It is this element of surprise that makes eating these peppers so much fun. Easy-to-grow plants have a spreading habit and produce very abundant harvests. 60 days.
The largest of New Mexican varieties, this pepper has pods up to 12 inches long that weigh as much as 4 ounces. Their size makes them a favorite for chiles rellenos. Medium-hot pungency and plants set fruit under hot, dry conditions. 80 days.
Profusions of brilliant-red small peppers, 1 inch long and 1½ inches wide, have a shape like patty-pan squash. They offer wonderful fruity taste but only mild to medium heat despite being related to the more fiery habanero. Peppers may be harvested green or left to ripen fully red. 80 to 85 days.
ALL AMERICA SELECTIONS WINNER. The first hybrid pasilla pepper, which is best known for its distinctive nutty and spicy flavor in molé sauce. 7 to 9 inch long peppers start out green then mature to a dark chocolate color. They may be used fresh or dried, adding rich, smoky flavor but very little heat to dishes. 80 days.
Hybrid Hungarian hot wax pepper. Very productive plants bear 8-inch long, very hot banana peppers with medium-thick flesh. They mature from yellow to red and are larger than older, open-pollinated types of Hungarian Wax. Great for pickling. 60 days.
Extremely hot variety is originally from Thailand, and bears thin-fleshed peppers that are used especially in Oriental dishes. Clusters of bright-red peppers ripen on the tops of plants, with individual fruits up to 3 inches long. 90 days.
8 to 10 inch long cylindrical peppers are thin walled, and dark green ripening to dark brown. They have less than 250 Scoville units and are mainly used dried for their rich, smoky flavoring in sauces. 75-80 days.