Ornamental Chile Garden is Hot Spot at NMSU

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An ornamental chile garden is a real hot spot at New Mexico State University. Anna María Pérez-Wright explains.

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New Mexico State University scientists have planted more than 150 varieties of spicy-sweet smelling peppers in one of the largest public chile gardens in the world. Assistant director of N-M-S-U's Chile Pepper Institute Danise Coon says the project is one of few places you can see how truly diverse the chile industry is in New Mexico.

"There are so many different colors – ivory, purple, brown, orange, all the different shades of yellow, all the different shades of red."

The garden is located at the Fabian Garcia Research Center near N-M-S-U's main campus in Las Cruces. It features colorful ornamentals, bell peppers, New Mexican pod types and the world's hottest peppers, the sizzling habaneros. Plantings also include Tabasco peppers used in hot sauces and cayennes that are a big part of New Mexico's chile industry.

"They are always surprised about all of the different shapes, colors and sizes of chiles. Most people tell me, "I never even knew there were this many types of chiles out there and that is not even a fraction of the chiles that are in the world."

Coon says that while the garden's main function is to serve as a real-world teaching laboratory for students and interested visitors, it frequently has a research component. Underwritten by NMSU's Chile Pepper Institute, it's supported by a grant from Frieda's, a California-based distributor of specialty produce. For N-M-S-U's College of Agriculture and Home Economics, I'm Anna María Pérez-Wright.