What's New in Sweet Peppers?

From Kansas State University: There are many new varieties of sweet bell and longhorn sweet peppers available for commercial and home growers. Colored bell peppers have become very popular with consumers who are willing to pay more for a red, yellow, or orange bell pepper as opposed to a green one. The long sweet, but not bell, peppers also come in a range of colors.  For several years we have been conducting statewide Master Gardener observational and limited yield trials on peppers and tomatoes. Several outstanding varieties have been identified. Bell pepper cultivars that have performed well include Flavorburst, Revolution, Declaration, Karisma, and Alliance. Bells that have done poorly for 2 or more years are SummerSweet 8620 and Polaris. 

The only true bell pepper we have found that yields well and colors early and consistently is Flavorburst. It starts out a light, pale green color and then becomes bright yellow well before other bells.  It has also been one of the highest yielding cultivars we have grown.  One caution, however, is that Flavorburst has no reported disease resistance so if disease has been a problem for you, try it sparingly.
The longhorn sweet peppers have yielded very well, especially all of the hybrid sweet banana types (Pageant, Boris, Ringo and Banana Bill).  Also outstanding have been Carmen, Marcato, and TI-100 Yellow.  As a rule, the long peppers color up earlier than the bells and can be substituted for most bell pepper uses except for baking and stuffing. They work especially well for grilling as the long slices do not fall through the grill as easily as the "C" shaped slices of the bell pepper.