Plant of the Week: Chilli pepper

Chilli peppers are great fun to grow and make gorgeous plants with their lipstick-red, purple, yellow or orange fruits and brilliant green foliage. There are varieties to suit all tastes, from super-mild Padron and banana peppers, little hotter than a sweet pepper, to mouth-blistering hot cayennes, habaneros and nagas.

It’s too late to sow from seed, but luckily in the garden centre, we have ready-grown plants to take home and pop into containers in a sunny spot. Keep chillies as warm as possible: a greenhouse or windowsill is ideal. Start feeding with liquid tomato feed once they flower and you’ll have dozens of fruits to enjoy by late summer.