Get creative with season’s hordes of gourds
Visiting Terry Boles’s apartment in Coralville, Iowa, to see her decorative gourds gave me good cause to commit a deadly sin – envy.
The gourds accent her condo with their colors and designs and simply their uniqueness,
“Start collecting something and people just know what to give you,” Boles said, as she showed me the many decorative gourds she has in her home.
Boles began collecting gourds many years ago and still has the first one she received. Keeping it company are perhaps some 50 others in various sizes, shapes, colors, design, usefulness and pure decoration.
When I saw these I just knew I wanted to find somewhere to grow them next spring.
Ornament gourds are pumpkin and squash relatives. They have the same yellow-gold blooms that gradually slip into fruit that are often as big as their cousins.
Hard-shell gourds come in multiple shapes determined by the seeds you sow in the spring. Some look like swans, others may have a 2- to 3-foot long neck,
or are big enough to use as a water pail. Colors vary from yellow to gold, green, orange and white.
Gourds are hungry plants. They like sunny spots and rich, well-drained soil. Compost and aged manure worked in the soil satisfy much of the gourd appetite. Add organic fertilizer for an extra boost.
Just like cucumbers, gourds can be grown on a sturdy trellis.
Since they are space-gobblers when grown on the ground with long vines to trip over, growing vertically seems ideal. It will free up other garden space and keep the gourds under control and clean.
If you are interested in planting, it would be good to check out all the different sizes first. Ask for a couple of catalogs so you can compare sizes to your space and whether you want hundreds growing or just a few to start your hobby.
February is a good time to start the seeds inside. This will give them a head start. Come May, plant them in richly prepared soil, or simply plant seeds.
Once matured and picked, gourds need to be dried for several months in a relatively cool place. When they are dry, you will hear the seeds rattling inside. Now would be the time to get out the sandpaper, bleach, and read up on how to make a beautiful vase, a unique bird feeder, or just let your artistic skills take over.
Virginia Hausler, who usually works alongside her husband, Bill Blair, in their field of daylilies, decided to raise gourds this year. Her picture shows great success. This is the way the gourds look, bare and green, before the drying, before the shellacking, before the decorating.
Hausler planted birdhouse gourds and bushel gourds. The bushel gourds make great containers as well as decorative pieces.
Gardening provides us with much enjoyment. Of course, the produce we grow and eat and the beautiful flowers for our tables are proof of our skill, but then just maybe a new hobby to explore would make gardening even more fun.