One year, I ordered a stock of this pepper plant with purplish black and dark green foliage from a local Connecticut grower. It grows black pearl-like small peppers which are shiny and pretty. But what attracted me to it more was the foliage’s dark toned colors.

Black Pearl Pepper in a Pot – Great Contrasting Foliage Color

So, I included one in a mixed container garden with some of my Canna plants that year.

Today, mixing edibles with other types of plants is a common trend, but years ago, not too many people would see a pepper plant with a tropical plant in a pot, so it was fun to see people’s reactions.

This pepper starts out with small purple flowers which you may miss if you don’t notice them, and then transitions to developing black peppers which later mature to an intense bright red color. This was a bonus in my book. Not only was the foliage a nice dark contrasting color, the show of the peppers changing color was fun to witness.

Veins of Coleus ‘Gay’s Delight’ pick up the purple tones of ‘Black Pearl’ pepper.

You can easily echo the purple-black foliage by including other plants with similar tones or colors. In this example, you see how Coleus ‘Gay’s Delight’ has veins in the same color. It worked, not only because of the color-echo, but the yellow or chartreuse color of the Coleus is opposite to purple on the color wheel, so it was complementary.

Another way to use this plant is to pot it up with other purples. You can see how well Strobilanthes dyerianus (Persian Shield), shown below on the top right, with its striking silver purple leaves would work with the ‘Black Pearl’ pepper. Even a perennial has the capability to bring it all together with the purples.

Monochromatic

Tomorrow, I host another Container Garden Workshop and I have some of these plants available for inclusion in the pots which our attendees will be potting up. Along with many perennials and tropical plants which are showy and unique. And this ‘Black Pearl’ pepper fits the bill.

By the way, it is also a Proven Winners plant and can take full sun to part sun or part shade. It worked so well with my heat loving Canna plants and never showed any signs of weakness or poor growth – it can take the heat – and because the peppers are very hot to eat, the critters in my yard didn’t dare take a bite.

Benefits of Using Edibles with Ornamental Values

My husband, Steve, however did try to eat a pepper from this plant one afternoon. He was quick to spit it out of his mouth – It was too hot to bear. So if you are brave, you may want to try it or use it as an ornamental feature in your patio pots and container gardens.

There are so many benefits to using this plant in container gardens: very long lasting, has a wonderful shape which adds another dimension to your design, it is easy to grow, dark foliage, transitioning colors with the pepper’s change from black to red, and makes a nice filler position in a container garden or patio pot.

Happy Friday Everyone – and I have a few seats open for Saturday’s class if interested, just e-me, text, or call.
Would love to have you join us.

Cathy Testa
(860) 977-9473
containercathy@gmail.com