Why Jalapenos Turn Red - Daphne richards - Central texas gardener

Hi I'm Daphne richards. Augie is taking a little time off to vacation with his Doxie counsins but he'll be back soon. This week's question is about jalapenos turning red and whether that indecates a problem with a plant. Well, if you're growing jalepenos for the first time, or you've lost track of harvesting them and let them go too long, you may not have noticed that a natural development of these fruit is a reddening when they actually rippen. Normally we harvest them green, which stops their development at this stage, but if left on the vine, they do indeed turn red and begin to dry out, the way any seed pod does. Because we're usually interested in eating the flesh of the pepper, we don't want it to dry out so we harvest them green while the flesh is still nice and juicy. And if allowed to rippen, that flesh begins to dry up and the flavor changes. You may see red flesh jalepenos sold in the market but more often you wont. Most red jalepenos are dried, smoked, and given a completely new name. Chipotle. Chipotle peppers are used in cooking to provide a unique smoky flavor and not the heat normally associated with jalepenos. If your jalepenos are turning red before you can harvest them, that's just a sign that you need to eat more jalepenos or that you should experement with creating some chipotles. Our plant this week is lindheimer muhly. Muhlenbergia lindheimeri. This georgous ortamental grass is native only in the plateau region of central texas. but its become widely used in the nursury trade and for good reason. The sharp blueish grey foliedge and seed heads create a striking addition to any garden. These perrenial ortamentals look especially at home in a city scape planted with low water use plants like black foot and copper canyon daisys. The plant itself only gets two to three feet tall and wide. But once it's in blume, the flower spikes can extend two to three feet. Since they fill in quite nicely all the way to the ground lindheimers muley also known as big muley creates a very nice screen when planted in a hedge route. Big muley is native to dry and rocky outcrops but it can tollerate a little extra moisture if rainfall is high and your soil is a bit heavy. It easily thrives in the full hot sun with very little water. So once established, you can virtually ignore this plant. The native species have lovely pale green and florecent which are called panicals in grasses. Improved varieties with pale yellow and even red panicals are also available. One of the most popular is regal mist with pinkish red flower spikes that develop in the late summer and add color to the garden in early winter when most plants are going dormant and their color is fading. This fine uniquely colored foliedge also adds textural interest to the garden in addition to color. place big muhly in conspicuous areas of the garden neer walkways or in borders. They are bound to shine as a sculptural element all year long. Out in your garden if you have a saint augusteen lawn, be on the look out for brown patch which can develop when nightime temperatures begin to cool and relative humidity is high. It's also time to plant wildflower and other spring flowering plants from seeds. Cosmos, larksper, bluebonetts, mexican blanket and cone flowers should be planted in the fall. Be sure to regularly water them if rains dont arrive. We love to hear from you so please visit us at klru.org/ctg with your questions and plants from your garden.