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No Curse in These Black Pearls

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By Tamara Galbraith (TexasTam)
March 23, 2007

Who could forget "The Curse of the Black Pearl," the first of the blockbuster Pirates of the Caribbean movies from a few summers ago? While they won't sprout a Captain Jack Sparrow for you, there are two 'Black Pearl' veggie varieties that have become hits with gardeners.

Gardening picture

ImageA fairly new exclusive from Burpee seeds, the 'Black Pearl' hybrid tomato is a tasty beauty. These dark, cherry toms develop a unique, extra sweet, 'Concord' grape flavor when chilled. Like most vining cherry tomatoes, these plants produce tons of fruit well into fall. Unfortunately, live plants of this variety cannot be shipped to Alaska, Arizona, California, Hawaii or Nevada from Burpee, but the seeds are available online.

The other 'Black Pearl' worth growing is an ornamental pepper (latin name Capsicum annuum) with spectacular, dark purple/black foliage and shiny, globe-like black fruits that mature to a glossy deep red. This plant is so handsome and sturdy, it was named as a 2006 All-American Selections Winner.

Exceptionally heat and drought tolerant, the 18-20" plant develops an attractive pyramid shape on its own, without pruning or pinching. It is disease- and pest-resistant, easy to grow from seed, and loves life in a container. Or, pair it in an ornamental bed with some silver-leaved plants for a stunning effect. And the more sun, the better the leaf color. Seeds for this beauty are now widely available.

The peppers on Black Pearl are edible, but be forewarned...they are extremely hot. In fact, eating one may cause you to come up with your own Curse of the Black Pearl.


  About Tamara Galbraith  
Tamara GalbraithI am an avid organic gardener and certified Master Gardener for Collin County, Texas (that's North Dallas). Despite those lofty titles, I still manage to kill stuff on a regular basis. My gardening experiences are periodically chronicled on my blog at: http://can-u-dig-it.blogspot.com

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Discussion about this article:
SubjectTopic StarterRepliesViewsLast Post
Black Pearl sassy1936 3 10 Oct 15, 2008 11:36 AM
black pearl JOANNE639679 0 30 Aug 13, 2007 1:56 PM
black pearl-Caspicum annuum jarobis 0 30 Jul 23, 2007 10:11 AM
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