Rhartnup's Outbox

Heat is pretty much down to variety. Smaller fruiting varieties tend to be hotter. Hungarian Hotwax, for instance, despite the name, has large fairly mild chillies, and Jalapenos are relatively mild too. We have some I'm going to plant in the New Year that have seeds you have to handle wearing rubber gloves - can't remember the name though, I'll check. They should be ripe by the time you come to visit!!

You should be able to prune pretty brutally without killing it - in fact it should even rejuvenate it. I always scare my boyfriend by pruning very hard but with a shrub like camellia you can't do much harm as long as you leave some healthy stems and buds!