Golden Nugget

Description

An American heirloom with a name attached to it: Martha Perry of Pontiac, Michigan, whose seed reached the Seed Savers Exchange and from there the rest of us.

It is beautiful at every stage, and that is not a figure of speech. The foliage is variegated — green streaked with white, flushed purple and pink — on purple stems, and the flowers are white and purple. The pods are small crinkled nuggets of about 2 cm that run from green through a deep near-black purple and finish golden yellow, sometimes with red streaks. A single plant carries all of it at once.

Unusually for an ornamental, it is properly hot and properly fruity, so it is worth picking rather than just looking at: excellent pickled, dried, or ground to a golden powder.

Compact and bushy at 45–60 cm, happy in a small pot, and ready in around 75–90 days. As good on a windowsill or as a bonchi as it is in a bed.

Limited supply for the fast buyers!

Categories: C. annuum , Medium , Bonsai , Easy to grow , Ornamental