Ornamental Pumpkin Cucurbita

Cucurbita is a genus of annual, warm-season, vining plants in the cucumber family (Cucurbitaceae) native to North and South America. It includes commonly cultivated vegetables (although botanical terms, they are fruit) such as summer and winter squashes, pumpkins, zucchini, and ornamental gourds. Their size varies with the cultivar, from 1 to 5 feet tall and 2 to 25 feet wide or long.

These plants require full sun. Being an annual crop, they will also require regular irrigation and moist, well-drained, organically rich soil. Give them sufficient space to provide good air circulation.

Plant them in small groups or mass plantings and site them in vertical spaces or in edible or children’s gardens.

Insects, Diseases, and Other Plant Problems:  Cucurbits are affected by many pests, including cabbage looper, corn earworm, cucumber beetle, melonworm, pickleworm, greenhouse whitefly, melon aphid, squash bug, thrips, twospotted spider mite, seedcorn maggot, squash vine borer, and vegetable leafminer. Diseases include cucurbit downy and powdery mildews, gummy stem blight, and anthracnose.

VIDEO* Created by Elisabeth Meyer for "Edibles, Bulbs, and Houseplants" a plant identification course offered in partnership with Longwood Gardens.   

*in the video the male and female flowers are swapped.  The female flower is presented first, the male flower second.