Did you guess what plant these mystery seeds came from?

mystery-seed-33

Here’s a few more hints:

birdhouse-gourd-flowerbirdhouse-gourd-plant

Do you recognize it yet? These are the flowers and vines of the birdhouse gourd, Lagenaria siceraria.

We had never grown them before, so we were surprised to find out the white flowers opened at night. Apparently they are moth pollinated.

birdhouse-gourd-female-flower

Like their relatives the squashes and pumpkins, birdhouse gourds have separate male and female flowers. The female flowers have a rounded bump under the petals.

birdhouse-gourd-male-flower

The male flowers lack the bulge.

Hopefully we have enough moths to pollinate the flowers and produce some of these:

gourds

By the way, these plants trail everywhere, so if you decide to grow them, make sure you have a lot of space.

Have you grown birdhouse gourds?