Come fall season, there’s nothing better than picking out decorative pumpkins for your home. Ornamental pumpkins capture the warmth and festiveness of the season, and the Blaze pumpkin is no exception. This small variety packs in loads of color and is the perfect choice for bringing your fall decorations to life.
Keep reading to learn all about the Blaze pumpkin and its uses!
Appearance
The Blaze pumpkin gets its name from its striking appearance. This yellow pumpkin has bright orange stripes that almost resemble flames climbing across the ribs of the pumpkin. The ribbing is shallow, which gives the pumpkin a flat texture.
Blaze is known for producing high yields of uniform fruit. At maturity, the pumpkin measures approximately seven inches in diameter and three inches tall, and it weighs between two and three pounds.
The Blaze pumpkin’s slender vine matures into dark green, which starkly contrasts the yellow and orange coloring of the pumpkin. It truly captures the main colors of the season, which makes it a classic for a fall ensemble.
History
The Blaze pumpkin was created by Hollar Seeds between 2005 and 2017 by cross-breeding different varieties of pumpkins, including Jill-Be-Little and Carnival, until they received their desired inverted stripes. It took several generations of growing pumpkins, alternating between their field and greenhouses before Hollar Seeds received the results they wanted.
Along with the Blaze pumpkin, the Spark, Flame, and Fury varieties were also created. All of these varieties have what are considered inverted stripes and are prized for their novelty.
What Does It Taste Like?
The Blaze pumpkin is grown as an ornamental pumpkin, but it does have a light flesh with a sweet flavor. Breeders are usually more focused on looks rather than taste with these types of pumpkins; therefore, there isn’t a lot of information out there on using this pumpkin in the kitchen.
Of course, all pumpkins are edible, so it’s safe to eat! Ornamental pumpkins do tend to have less flavor because of their breeding and small size, but they can still be used in soups or pies.
How to Decorate with the Blaze Pumpkin
Decorations are where this pumpkin variety shines! Let’s go over the top ways to decorate using the Blaze Pumpkin.
Pumpkin Stacks
Pumpkin stacks are a great way to dress up the entrance to your home! These are created using three different pumpkins of varying sizes and colors. The pumpkins are stacked from largest to smallest with the largest pumpkin serving as the base of the stack.
Blaze pumpkins look perfect at the top of the stack because of their small size and big personality!
You’ll want to choose pumpkins that have flat bottoms and short stems to make stacking the pumpkins easier. The pumpkin on top can have a long stem since nothing will be stacked on top of it. The stacks can be placed on either side (or both sides) of your door. Flat pumpkins bred for stacking should stay put without any trouble, so long as they are not in a high-wind area.
If you want to ensure that the pumpkins stay put, you can use a dowel through the middle of the pumpkins. You’ll need to drill a hole through the pumpkin flesh to allow the dowel to slide through each pumpkin. It’s kind of like a pumpkin kebab!
Keep in mind that drilling a hole in the pumpkins will mean that they rot faster, so this is only a good short-term decoration method.
Thanksgiving Cornucopia
Since Blaze pumpkins are small, you can use them in your table centerpiece for Thanksgiving. The pumpkins can be propped against a cornucopia containing fruits and vegetables. You can also layer them on top of faux sunflowers to truly capture the fall color palette.
In Companion with Flowers
The yellow and orange stripes of the Blaze pumpkin look good near any color mum. For a fun yard display, choose a large mum of any color, and layer blaze pumpkins around the base of it. You can also add pumpkins of different colors, such as the white Casperita pumpkin or the light green Jarrahdale pumpkin. The more colors and textures, the better!
Recipes that Include the Blaze Pumpkin
Even though the Blaze pumpkin isn’t known for its edible use, you can certainly use it in the kitchen! A great way to include your Blaze pumpkin in a recipe is by creating a minestrone soup. You can also create miniature baked pumpkins, using all of the ornamental pumpkins you collected over the season.
Can You Grow It at Home?
Yes! The Blaze pumpkin can easily be grown in your backyard or incorporated into your garden. It produces several pumpkins per plant, so it will earn its keep in the garden! This pumpkin has a short vining habit, so it will need about five feet of space around it to spread.
It needs 95 days to maturity, so take that into account when planning what time of year to plant your pumpkins. Mid-June is usually the ideal time to plant pumpkins by direct seeding. You want to time it to where the pumpkins mature in time for the fall season. Seeds can also be started ahead of time in a peat pot in the greenhouse.
Mix the existing soil with organic compost before you plant the seeds. Pumpkins are heavy feeders, so make sure to provide the plant with plenty of nutrients as it produces flowers. Applying liquid fish fertilizer is a great way to give the pumpkin plant the nitrogen it needs.
Keep in mind that pumpkins need proper drainage and don’t take well to sitting in water. To avoid root rot, create “hills” with the soil to give the roots good drainage. Plant two to three seeds per hill and thin them out once the seedlings have emerged and established.
Where to Find the Blaze Pumpkin
Pumpkins
Look for Blaze pumpkins at your local farmer’s market or pumpkin patch. Several plant nurseries also sell pumpkins during the fall season.
You may even luck up and find these ornamental pumpkins at the grocery store. Keep an eye out early in the season, as most pumpkins are sold out by the end of October.
Seeds
Blaze pumpkin seeds are widely sold online by seed distributors like Hoss. Buying seeds online is a useful way to browse other pumpkin varieties that would compliment Blaze. The websites will also give you extensive growing information to help you start your seeds.
Most online seed distributors also have a satisfaction guarantee, so you can email customer service if you have problems with the performance of your seeds.
Wrapping Up the Blaze Pumpkin
Whether you take on growing the Blaze pumpkin or just look for it at the farmer’s market, you can’t go wrong with having this adorable pumpkin for the fall season. The bright yellow and orange coloring will liven up any Halloween or Thanksgiving display.
Excited for more pumpkin content? Keep learning all about pumpkin plants to become an expert on pumpkin planting, growing, harvesting, cooking, and more!