Growing Gourds: Varieties, Tips, and More

Gourds...What entertaining plants!

Gourds, around here, are typically grown for two reasons: as decoration and/or as birdhouses. There are numerous types of gourds; below is a list of some of the common gourds I've seen locally, here around Kentucky:

• bottle gourds

• birdhouse gourds

• bushel gourds

• dipper gourds

• luffa gourds

• ornamental gourds

• speckled swan gourds
  

Painted dipper gourds hanging in a tree.

Most people associate gourds with Autumn, however, once dried, gourds are a blank canvas that can be painted and/or carved and turned into decor for any season! The time to plant gourd seeds is approaching! Gourd seeds, like most everything else, should be planted in the spring after all danger of frost.

Large birdhouse gourds hanging from a timber in the backyard.

All of the gourds pictured below came from the seeds of one little, crooked-neck, bumpy, ornamental gourd the late Ms. Gladys (the previous owner of my property) had left out on the front deck and forgotten all about...Last spring, in her honor, I decided to crack open the gourd and I planted the seeds all around the well. Look at all the different shapes, color patterns, and textures...all the diversity that was packed into the seeds of that one single gourd. These are actually holding up surprisingly well...they were harvested right before Thanksgiving last year to be used as a centerpiece for the dining room table. After Thanksgiving was over, these should have all been hung up to dry out like the pale one in the top of the picture (that's the one I dropped and forgot outside until my dog brought it to me and wanted to play fetch about a week after harvest--it's the only one at this time that rattles and has seeds that will be ready for planting, thanks to being dried out by the sun).

Homegrown ornamental gourds--all from the seeds of a single gourd.

I've strung the gourds in the kitchen window below my impromptu "sprouting shelf" (more on that at a later date) to try and finish drying them out--fingers crossed! Regardless of whether these ever dry out and leave viable seeds to be replanted, I still have at least the one little guy that was temporarily a dog toy! That's the beautiful thing about saving seeds--from one fruit, often several seeds can be saved. A word of caution, however, regarding gourds--they can cross-pollinate with other things in the garden such as squash, pumpkins, cucumbers, and melons; if any of these cross-pollinate, they won't affect the current year's yield, but there's the chance that unfavorable characteristics (from the gourd) may be present in the DNA of the seeds saved from cross-pollinated squash, pumpkins, cucumbers, and melons.

Gourds strung in the kitchen window to be dried.

Gourds are fascinating, and I'll continue to grow them--likely adopting various other kinds such as the bushel and dipper gourds! If you ever have the opportunity to grow gourds, I encourage you to give it a try!