Floral Friday

This chilli plant started in a pot on the kitchen windowsill but soon grew too tall to be inside. Stephen transplanted it into a larger pot, placed it in a sunny spot on the front verandah, and has been watering it regularly. Now it has flowers, and maybe eventually there will be chillies.

Auntie Google has some conflicting advice about pollination of chillies. Some say they are self-pollinating, others suggest they need help from insects or people.

Chillies originated in South America, and their fossilised remains have been dated to around 6,000 years ago. In Aztec and Mayan traditions they were used to fumigate houses and help cure illness, as well as to flavour food. Stephen likes food hotter than I do, but he kindly goes easy on the chilli when he’s cooking, out of consideration for my milder tastes.

A Peruvian myth says that the chilli once had a sweet flavour which changed when a young girl was murdered by her own mother for having eaten several peppers against her mother’s wishes. Years later a beautiful pepper plant grew above the child’s grave, and brought the bitter and spicy flavour it now has as a punishment for her murder.

You may have wondered, as I did, the correct way to spell chilli. In U.K. English two lls are correct. In the U.S. it is spelt chili or sometimes chile.

These peppers can be mighty hot
don’t put too many in the pot.