A chilli garden is never just chillies. Flowering plants grown alongside the peppers bring in bees and other pollinators, and they also attract predators such as spiders that help keep pests in check. Chilli flowers can pollinate themselves, but insect visits help move pollen around, which supports fruit set and is the reason seeds saved from open plants can cross.
Here are the flowers and garden visitors we have photographed between the chilli plants over the years.
In this post
- Gladiolus in Full Bloom
- Obedient Plant (Physostegia virginiana)
- Sunflower Splendor Among the Chillies
- A Bee Collecting Nectar from a Cucumber Flower
- Wasp Spider: A Natural Pest Controller
- Chilli Peppers and a Grasshopper
- What About the Chilli Flowers?
Gladiolus in Full Bloom
This gorgeous gladiolus adds a splash of vibrant color to the garden, in both red and yellow. Gladiolus, also known as sword lilies, are a summer favorite for many gardeners.
These tall, stately flowers thrive in well-drained soil and full sun, the same conditions chilli plants like, which makes them easy neighbors. They are perfect for cutting gardens, and with regular watering and staking they flower from mid-summer to early autumn.
Tips for growing gladiolus:
- Planting: plant the corms in spring, about 15 cm (6 in) apart and 10 cm (4 in) deep.
- Soil: well-drained soil with added compost for nutrients.
- Watering: keep the soil consistently moist but not waterlogged.
- Staking: use stakes or supports to keep the tall stems upright.
- Cutting: harvest flower spikes when the lowest bloom opens for long-lasting arrangements.
Obedient Plant (Physostegia virginiana)
The Obedient Plant (Physostegia virginiana) is known for its tubular white flowers that bloom on tall spikes, adding elegance to our chilli garden.
The flowers open from late summer into early autumn. The plant gets its name because individual flowers can be pushed sideways on the spike and tend to stay where they are put. It is a North American perennial from the mint family, thrives in sun to partial shade and well-drained soil, and adds height and structure to a bed while attracting bees and butterflies.
Sunflower Splendor Among the Chillies
As summer reaches its peak, our chilli garden is graced with the radiant presence of a magnificent sunflower.
Sunflowers are more than just ornamental. Each flower head is made up of hundreds of small florets, which is why bees keep coming back to it. This one quickly became a hotspot for bees, and that activity benefits the other plants around it too. Later in the season the seeds can be harvested as a snack, for birds, or for sowing next year.
A Bee Collecting Nectar from a Cucumber Flower
A charming scene in our chilli garden: a bee busily collecting nectar from a bright yellow cucumber flower, the petals glowing in the morning sun.
Bees play a crucial role in pollination. Cucumbers carry separate male and female flowers on the same plant, so many varieties depend on insects to carry pollen from one to the other before fruit can form. Chilli flowers are different: each flower has both male and female parts and can pollinate itself, but visiting bees still move pollen around and can cross different chilli varieties. If you want to control that yourself, see our guide on how to cross-pollinate chilli plants.
Planting flowers that bees like is one of the simplest ways to support a bountiful harvest and a beautiful, buzzing garden.
Wasp Spider: A Natural Pest Controller
One morning our chilli garden welcomed an interesting visitor: a stunning wasp spider, a natural pest controller.
Wasp spiders (Argiope bruennichi) are known for their striking black and yellow stripes and are not dangerous to people. They build large orb webs low in tall vegetation, often with a zigzag band of silk through the middle, and catch grasshoppers and other insects that land in them. Every creature plays a part in keeping the garden in balance.
Chilli Peppers and a Grasshopper
An early Diavolicchio Calabrese chilli pepper and a curious grasshopper that decided to make an appearance among our chilli plants.
Grasshoppers chew leaves and can be pests in large numbers, but a single visitor does little harm, and they are food for birds and for spiders such as the wasp spider above. Our chilli plants, robust and healthy, kept flourishing despite this little guest.
What About the Chilli Flowers?
Chilli plants have beautiful flowers of their own. Most are small and white, while Capsicum chinense varieties such as habaneros have greenish white flowers, and some Capsicum baccatum types have white petals with yellow or green spots. Take a closer look in our posts about Capsicum chinense flowers, the habanero flower and the Bishop’s Crown flower.