Chile Pequin

Capsicum annuum

Hills guide picksold locally

Chile Pequin is a perennial from the Village of the Hills planting guide that grows 2–4 ft tall and 2–4 ft wide. It wants full sun or part shade and low water, and handles caliche and clay soil. Blooms white in May–Oct. Deer rarely browse it. Good for birds.

Will it grow in your yard?

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From our guide

Village of the Hills

Small shrubby perennial with glossy leaves and tiny intensely hot red peppers.

Why it works here

Fruits in shade under trees where little else produces, and birds spread it around the yard.

Watch out

Peppers are genuinely fierce. Freezes back and returns. Volunteers appear in unexpected places.

The facts

7 sources

Type: Perennial
Sun: Full sun to part shade (3+ hrs)
Water: Low
Height: 2–4 ft
Spread: 2–4 ft
Bloom: May–Oct · white
Foliage: Deciduous
Soil: Takes caliche and clay · recorded on caliche, clay, limestone, loam, moist, sand
Deer: High — deer rarely browse it. Capsaicin deters mammals — birds take the fruit instead.
Wildlife: Supports birds

Size, sun, water and foliage from the Village of the Hills guide; the rest resolved across sources.

Where it grows

Recorded in these EPA Level IV ecoregions in the Austin and Hill Country launch area:

Balcones CanyonlandsNorthern Blackland PrairieSouthern Post Oak SavannaFloodplains and Low Terraces

906 occurrence records in Central Texas (GBIF).

Can you buy it?

Sold at local nurseries. A Central Texas grower lists it; sizes were not published.

From the growers we read so far — a short list, not the whole trade. Call ahead.

also grows from seed It starts readily from seed, so a packet from a native-seed supplier, or seed collected with permission, is often the easiest way to get a plant no nursery pots.