Cold hardiness

Heat tolerance

What it needs

Lifecycle

Pollination

Monoecious — separate male + female flowers on the same plant. Bee pollination is REQUIRED for fruit set; squash bees (Peponapis pruinosa) are the canonical specialist pollinators and deliver most cucurbit pollination across North America, with bumblebees + honeybees as significant secondary visitors. Male flowers open first (about 2 weeks before females); female flowers (identifiable by the small fruit-shaped swelling at the base) open after. Hand-pollination can be done when bees are absent — strip a male flower of its petals and brush it against the female stigma.

Plants don't grow alone

For people

Cucurbita pepo cultivars produce summer squash (eaten immature: zucchini, yellow crookneck, pattypan), winter squash (eaten mature: acorn, delicata, spaghetti), pumpkins (carving + pie), and gourds (ornamental, hard-shelled). NC State notes the flowers themselves are edible — "squash blossoms" are a culinary delicacy when harvested as male flowers (avoiding the female fruit-bearing flowers) and prepared fresh.

Climate notes

In the designer

Seasonal interest

University extension service

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