It’s time for my annual gourd hunt. Each year I troll the grocery stores and open markets, looking for the most unusual decorative gourds to put in a bowl on my countertop.
It’s fun scouting for the different colors and textures, as well as the miniature, pumpkin-looking ones.
I always thought they were divided into two groups: bumpy and smooth. It turns out that there are several types of ornamental gourds: egg gourds, orange gourds, spoon gourds, bicolor, pear, broad striped or Texas flat, Crown of Thorns gourds and warted ones. And those are just the little ones. Who knew?
There are three main categories: ornamentals, the tiny ones used in colorful arrangements; the hardshells, which are larger and used for crafts, carving, painting and birdhouses. Then there are luffas (or loofahs), which are commonly used for sponges (and apparently quite tasty if harvested young). They are all part of the Cucurbitacex family, which also includes melons, squash, pumpkins and cucumbers.
The ornamentals are thin and soft skinned and have beautiful yellow gold flowers like their cousins. They are a winter squash, similar to butternut, spaghetti and acorn.
Drying these gourds is harder because they are not left on the vine as long as the larger gourds in order to take advantage of the best color. They can be dried and saved, but their bright colors will begin to fade in a few months. So when you pick them out in the grocery store, make sure they are hard and blemish-free. Look for any soft spots or discoloration. They should last several months, although last year I forgot to take one off the mantle and by Christmas its time had definitely come.
If you’d like to try your hand at growing them, they are relatively easy to grow, much the same as cucumbers and melons. The gourd mix seed packages will produce a variety of unpredictable shapes. They need full sun and well drained soil, planted after the last frost and spaced about 5 feet apart.Planting them next to a fence or supports has the advantage of allowing the fruit to hang, which will produce better shaped and better colored fruits. Of course they have the same pests as other members of the same family, so you’ll need to be on the lookout for the squash vine borer, aphids and that nasty striped cucumber beetle.
If you’d like to try drying them to better preserve the color you can try washing them in a solution of 1 cup borax with 3 cups water, then after they cure, rub with a water-based wax.
I’d be interested in knowing where you get your ornamental gourds, and how you use them in decoration. There are so many varieties, and so little time to use them all.
Deb Walker is a Master Gardener Volunteer with the Cooperative Extension Service in Rowan County.