Bell pepper named AAS winner

Capsicum annuuam ‘Cajun Belle’ has been named a 2010 All-America Selections vegetable winner. This bell pepper produces small 2- by 3-inch sweet and savory fruit that weigh about 1 oz.. The 3- or 4-lobed fruit starts bright green, turns scarlet and then deep red. Mature green peppers are ready 60 days after transplanting.

The robust branching plants grow to 24 inches tall and wide. The compact plants are well-suited for containers. When grown at AAS Trial grounds, ‘Cajun Belle’ showed no disease problems. ‘Cajun Belle’ was bred by Gordon Smith at Grow Star LLC and seed companies can purchase seed from PanAmerican Seed.

This year AAS will have 3 new trial locations (Costa Farms, Miami, Fla., L&M Greenhouses, St Charles, Ill., and Tri-B Nursery, Hulbert, Okla.) and 5 new display gardens (Buxton Park, Indianola, Iowa, Costa Farms, Miami, Fla., Dyer County High School, Newbern, Tenn., Franklin Park Conservatory, Columbus, Ohio, and Univ. of Rhode Island, Kingston, R.I.)