Pumpkin Leaves and Bean Flowers
I once had a problem identifying the problem of a sickly rose that was here in the Galeazza Garden, so when Claudio “Rose Man” Baldazzi came for a visit this past winter I asked him what he thought the problem might be. He not only knew what the problem was (now I forget) but he even knew what kind of rose it was just by the shape of its thorns.
At the time I was astounded by his knowledge of plants, and then I learned it’s not so incredible, really - its just a question of experience. In the same way that he can tell roses from their thorns, I would love to one day identify pumpkins by their leaves, and beans by their flowers. I’m already getting there - it’s just a question of remembering! Fortunately these photos will help - as will the limited number of pumpkins that I’m attempting to grow this year: only five!
These big round leaves are from a plant which makes big round pumpkins (not sure this is a rule you can normally follow, but in this case it works). The large leaves in the photo are of Cucurbita Maxima, the “Big Max” pumpkin. Seeds from LIDL. Not really a huge pumpkin, but heavy enough to be tricky to carry long distances without dropping - and never by the stem… oh, and a deep dark reddish orange, which is cool. Edible, yes, and good for a Jack-o-lantern, too!
