A Gourd by Any Other Name

Halloween has come and gone, but in its' wake there remains a host of Turks Turban, Crown of Thorns, Warted and Striped pumpkin cousins. Most of us find these too difficult for the Jack-o-lantern carving, but these varieties offer sometihng completley different for the imaginative (or in my case, desperate) gardener to use.

(At right,"Ceci N'est Pas Une Magritte"
by John J. McClintock)

Not all of us are as inspired as this artist in his use of the lowly gourd, but eating them isn't the only way for the less artisitc of us to enjoy them. I'm a perfect example of a craft-impaired person getting extra mileage out of gourds.

Several years ago I bought a case of those adorable Jack-Be-Little mini pumpkins for use at a school class party. I don't know what got into me--buying the entire case provided way too many teeny gourds, but they were super cheap... I just got carried away.

As luck would have it, I was also responsible for table decorations for a luncheon the following week. Those pumpkin-ettes were still hanging around my garage, so I decided to use them as place card holders. A stroke of desperation!

An apple corer made preparing them quick work, and I used a sharp paring knife to cut up pieces of soaked floral oasis to stuff in the cored holes. I used the wet oasis because I had inexpensive fresh flowers to use in the small arrangements,but if I'd had enough dried flowers to use, I would have used the desert variety (dry green foam) oasis instead.

I used Joe Pye weed (ageratum) and pieces of fern from the yard, and bright alstromeria from the grocery store for the body of the design, and added tiny real mushrooms at the last minute, having stuck them onto toothpicks. The little pumpkins made a colorful decoration at each place setting.

Craft stores sell the plasitc gift card holders used in delivered flowers, and I used these to put cards in each pumpkin. It occured to me to write the names of the guests on each pumkin insted, but this was a white-glove tea party for older ladies, and they liked the fancy touch.

Thus began a quest for me, the use of the common gourd as a flower conatainer. It became....personal. Emily vs. The Gourd. Big ones, little ones, whatever, I tackled them all.

Therefore, I can share the dubious benefits of my experience in Gourd Management with you:

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