Hot chilli peppers in all shapes and sizes
Words: Sarah Wain, West Dean Gardens Supervisor
Of all the edible crops that are grown in the Victorian glasshouses at West Dean Gardens, chillies create the most interest. Their colourful shiny fruits, in all shapes and sizes, mesmerize garden visitors and I’m equally knocked out by their diversity. I grow many edible crops but chilli peppers have the real Wow! factor, witnessed by the annual West Dean Chilli Fiesta in August which, from humble beginnings, now attracts some 20,000 visitors annually.
I’ve been growing this summer crop each year since the early 1990s, first at the request of a botanical illustration tutor at West Dean College and thereon after as a summer crop to fill one of the Victorian pit glasshouses in the walled garden. The collection grew from only a few different varieties initially, as there weren’t many available in catalogues in the UK to grow, to now about 300 varieties with nearly all of them sourced nationally - either through regular retail seed merchants or the internet. And in that time the interest in chillies has soared, too, due to exotic holidays food and living in a much more culturally diverse environment.
At chilli fiesta time I’ll be the person in a chilli outfit decked out in chilli jewellery, a chilli headdress and my bright red glasses just so no one can mistake where my interest lies. See you there!
My hot tip
The really good news is that chillies are easy to grow. Sow chilli pepper seed in February and March and turn your thermostatically controlled propagator to 25C (77F) to provide enough heat to germinate the whole range of different chillies. After germination they grow happily at a minimum of 15C (59F) and are virtually problem free.
Sarah's favourite varieties
'Hungarian Hot Wax': Ideal for novices. At 10cm (4 in) it can be stuffed or sliced. It changes from glorious cream yellow to spectacular flame orange when mature.
'Habanero': Fruity but hot. Cut up small, incorporate into mango ice cream and refreeze. Just watch people’s faces when they try it!
'Numex Twilight': It has assorted coloured fruit that highlight this exotic plant’s purple foliage.
'Dorset Naga': A cultivar for a fearsome addition to hot dishes.
'Pinocchio’s Nose': This cultivar has hot, long slender fruits and looks fantastic.