Willing's Barbados Pepper
Native to Barbados, this prolific small hot pepper grows wild there and is a classic ingredient in the local cuisine. In the late summer through fall it is covered with tiny, upward facing peppers which are dark green, turning bright orange and red as they ripen. Birds love them.
The plant was given to John Bartram in the 1760s by Charles Willing, twice mayor of Philadelphia, for plant collector Sir John St. Clair of Delaware’s special collection of tropical plants. At this time, it was introduced into cultivation in Philadelphia as an ornamental houseplant.
Photos courtesy of Old Salem Museums & Gardens.
Seeds per pack: 40
Planting / harvesting notes
Sow indoors two months early and transplant into garden soil when its 70-80
degrees, in Philadelphia, that’s mid-May. Grow in full sun in regular garden soil. Will self sow.
Seed keeping notes
Peppers are generally self-pollinating, though we isolate different varieties of the same species by at least 50 feet, in hopes that flying insects will not cross pollinate them unexpectedly. There are several important species of peppers, so check your scientific names! This pepper is Capsicum annuum. Pepper seeds are ripe when the fruits have turned their final fiery color - in this case, fiery-orange. Cut the fruit, scrape out seeds, and lay them out to dry on a labeled screen or paper product in a ventilated place away from direct sunlight for a week or two. Consider wearing gloves for your protection! Drying the peppers before seed extraction can slightly lower your germination rates, but works fine for home seed saving as long as the peppers do not rot.