Ornamental pepper ‘Black Pearl’

A couple of 'Black Pearl' peppers with a blend of new black fruits and maturing red ones.

* Common name: Ornamental pepper ‘Black Pearl’

* Botanical name: Capsicum annuum ‘Black Pearl’

* What it is: A hot pepper with nearly jet-black leaves and shiny, rounded fruits that look like black olives (or black pearls, if you go with the namer’s opinion). This annual gets hanging, bell-like lavender flowers. In early summer, plants begin developing glossy black fruits that ripen red. For much of the summer, the plant has a blend of all three: lavender flowers, black “olives” and rounded red mature fruits. Fruits are edible but extremely hot and seedy. They’re too pretty and painful to eat, so forget about picking them.

* Size: Plants grow about 18 inches tall and 16 inches wide.

* Where to use: Ideal as a pot centerpiece in full sun. But ‘Black Pearl’ also will brighten up a vegetable garden and even look great in any flower garden. Some shade is OK, but leaf color won’t be as dark.

* Care: Hot peppers seldom see any bug, disease or animal trouble, so no spraying is needed. Just keep the soil reasonably damp, especially if you’re growing ‘Black Pearl’ in a pot. Fertilize every few weeks with a high-phosphorus fertilizer for best fruiting. Can be potted and grown inside to overwinter in a bright window, although indoor fruiting is unlikely.

* Great partner: In a pot, surround with trailing white petunias or with white or pink calibrachoa. In a garden bed, you can also go the white route or surround ‘Black Pearl’ with hot-colored annuals such as ‘Profusion Orange’ zinnias, red/orange marigolds or sun-loving coleus.

'Black Pearl's' foliage can be almost black in full sun.