I'd gone out to put the bird feeder on the hanger this morning and discovered the gourd vine had crept up one of my chairs on the deck and what do you know?! The gourd is getting bigger!
Thank you Lou Ann, Katy, Maggie, Connie, Kim, Chris, Allie, Kerri, Mandy, Sue, Haskar, Rob and Ferry!
@maggiemae No, it's definitely a gourd. I had bought some as a decoration last Fall in the Farmer's Market. They stayed in a bowl on the dining room table and various locations throughout the winter and early Spring until I got tired of them and then put them out in an empty pot of the deck. They sat there for about a month and the elements softened them, the chipmunks discovered them and bits and pieces began to be carted off and consumed. ONE seed however, found its way into the dirt in the pot, and one day I discovered the beginnings of a vine. Now into its third/fourth month in the pot the vine has crept across the deck and found its way up one of the wrought iron chairs. I've had about a dozen flowers pop out on it, but this is the only one that has produced fruit. I don't know how big it will get before the first frost hits so we'll see.
@littleconnie It probably won't be much bigger than a person's hand as that was the size of its "parent". These are not edible (at least for human consumption- the chipmunks seem to like them), just decorative.
@cruiser It's covering about half of it right now- but just as one long strand, not overpowering like other vines can be.
@robz I'm actually the one who did that. The vine had some tendrils around the chair leg but more towards the bottom- so I picked it up and wrapped it around part of the leg and through the arm rest. No one really sits on these chairs so it's fine for it to stay there.
Thank you Lou Ann, Katy, Maggie, Connie, Kim, Chris, Allie, Kerri, Mandy, Sue, Haskar, Rob and Ferry!
@maggiemae No, it's definitely a gourd. I had bought some as a decoration last Fall in the Farmer's Market. They stayed in a bowl on the dining room table and various locations throughout the winter and early Spring until I got tired of them and then put them out in an empty pot of the deck. They sat there for about a month and the elements softened them, the chipmunks discovered them and bits and pieces began to be carted off and consumed. ONE seed however, found its way into the dirt in the pot, and one day I discovered the beginnings of a vine. Now into its third/fourth month in the pot the vine has crept across the deck and found its way up one of the wrought iron chairs. I've had about a dozen flowers pop out on it, but this is the only one that has produced fruit. I don't know how big it will get before the first frost hits so we'll see.
@littleconnie It probably won't be much bigger than a person's hand as that was the size of its "parent". These are not edible (at least for human consumption- the chipmunks seem to like them), just decorative.
@cruiser It's covering about half of it right now- but just as one long strand, not overpowering like other vines can be.
@robz I'm actually the one who did that. The vine had some tendrils around the chair leg but more towards the bottom- so I picked it up and wrapped it around part of the leg and through the arm rest. No one really sits on these chairs so it's fine for it to stay there.
Thanks again Maggie- there are quite a few varities here.
Thanks Marilyn, Teresa, Kathy and Lynn!