Hi Carol,
I've been told that all chillis are edible.In Aust most chillis are annuals due to our cold winters

You can easily overwinter chillies. Just protect them from the cold (frost) in winter. I have most of my chillies in pots that I put in my unheated greenhouse. In spring I put them outside so that they can enjoy the sun and heat again.

Some of the plants are now already 2-3 years old. :)

Sorry, can't help you with your original question about edibility.

Many thanks for your replies.

I previously lived in southern NSW, hence I'm used to chilli plants acting more like annuals come winter. I now live in tropical Queensland (love the climate!). The plants are doing fine outdoors.

What confused me was a local nursery selling chilli plants labelled as ornamentals, which I recognised as the bushes growing in my garden. I did a Hortiplex search before my original post to this forum and the chilli plants came up as Capsicum annum, with numerous cultivars. Between this and your replies I feel certain that they will be safe to eat.

I don't know of any which aren't edible.

I treat all my chillies and capsicums as perennials. I have one chilli (Purple Pride from Eden Seeds) that will be 4 years old in Spring. It is covered in fruit and looking healthy and strong. It spent its first year in a pot but has been in the same spot more than two years now. We even had a genuine frost in Perth this winter but two eggplants and all my chillies made it no problems. Not sure what I am doing right. Good healthy soil, nice northerly aspect and regular weak doses of seaweed fertiliser perhaps?

As for edible ornamentals, I treat all my chillies as ornamentals too! I love the look of them. I am sure the "ornamental" varieties are safe to eat. But even though I love hot chillies, those little ones are nasty little buggers and often too hot for practical use.

Correction: Purple Delight from Eden Seeds.

i too have bought an ornamental chillie plant and it had a tug that said not to be consumed.. i also have a normal chillie plant but since moving i have mixed up which one is which and so also would like to know if the ornamental one can be eaten? perhaps they have no flavour??

The ornamental chilies I have turned out to be Bird's Eye Chillies. Very, very hot but edible. I use them in cooking.