Geranium Blog

Tournament of Ornamental Peppers: Medusa Keeps Jumping In Front Of The Camera

Medusa is putting on a spectacular color show. Still blooming and making new peppers, too.

Tournament of Ornamental Peppers: Chilly Chili

Chilly Chili is much taller than Medusa. It is just now starting to bloom and make peppers. I think it is showing a lot of promise.

Tournament of Ornamental Peppers: Post Your Pretty Peppers

Join the fun:

• All varieties of peppers and chilis may be considered ornamental.
• Post a photo of your most beautiful peppers/pepper plants on your blog by October 1, 2007. Use the term "Tournament of Ornamental Peppers" in your posting.
• Leave a note in my comments or email me (geraniums =at= momcom =dot= net) with a link to your post in case I don't see it right away.
• A winner will be named! It could be you! The winning gardener will receive massive bragging rights and an attractive button for their blog.

Tournament of Ornamental Peppers: Medusa

Medusa seems to be an overachiever among ornamental peppers. Her rivals, Chilly Chili and Bolivian Rainbow, have yet to reach this level of productivity. (More about that tomorrow.)

Medusa's little peppers are sweet and edible. They start out whitish green and change to yellow, orange and red. The bushes grow about 8 inches tall with a low, spreading habit.

A Rambling Growth Habit

Peach is a variegated scented pelargonium. The variegated branches grow slowly. The plain green branches grow much faster. In order to maintain the varigation, the grower is to prune off the green branches. After dutifully trimming away for a while, I decided I was very impressed with the all green foliage. If allowed to go 'native', Peach develops a graceful, flowing look. And frankly, the yellow splotchy variegation can have a rather sickly look.

P. 'Peach' is an excellent choice for gardeners in the Desert Southwest. It is very heat tolerant and can be counted on to look nice even during the hottest hot spell (given adequate water and partial shade). Peach is also a very sweet bloomer.

A Weighty Question: If Pelargonium 'Peach' is considered a variegated scented geranium, does that mean that the unvariegated form is a different cultivar?