Every few years I grow a new crop of birdhouses. In this post I will show you how to preserve birdhouse gourds and fix them up, so that they can be used for birdhouses. All you have to do is plant some seeds at the beginning and decorate them at the end. I’ll guide you through the middle.
First: DO NOT pick them now. They must stay on the vine through the winter, until they are brown and ugly. They will rot if you pick them while they are pretty and green. This is called seasoning. Mother nature does this part.
Green Gourd. Do not pick.
Second: In the spring, I soak my ugly brown gourds in a giant tub that looks like a witch’s cauldron. That makes this messy part more fun. I mix in about one part bleach to about ten parts water. The bleach kills and mold and bacteria on them. They float, so you have to put a big board on top with of the cauldron with some weight on it to keep them submerged. I let them soak all day and then scrub them with a fiber-bristle brush to remove the skin and debris.
DO NOT let them soak more than twenty-four hours. They will turn to mush. Let them dry several days to harden again.
Ho, Ho, Ho, Yes Sirree; little brown gourd how I love thee.
Third: Remove the seeds. I use my 1-and-1/4 inch drill bit to drill the door for the bird. I pull the seeds out this same hole. I keep a hooked piece of strong wire for pulling out seeds and for pulling the hanger wire through later. I also find landscaping stakes handy for scraping out the seeds and tissue within the gourd.
Scrapers and stakes and snaked hooks
Years ago I made the mistake of dumping out all my seeds after doing this. The smart little squirrels remembered those tasty seeds the next year and ate my gourds. So, do not share the seeds with your local, furry friends.
I have put mesh bags(like for lemons or onions) around the gourds to discourage the squirrels. One year I did not have enough bags, so I tried pantyhose. What a mess! Don’t try that at home.
Fourth: Drill one small hole at the top of the neck near the stalk for your hanging wire. Also, drill four or five small holes through the bottom for ventilation or in case water happens to get in. Baby song birds cannot swim, you know.
Fifth: Take a sturdy wire about two and a half feet long and push it down through the top hole until you can see it by looking through the door. Then use that same hooked piece of wire that you used to remove seeds to pull the end of the long wire out through the hole. Bend the end of the wire to make a loop and then pull the loop back into the gourd using the top of the wire.
Pull firmly but carefully to get the loop back in the gourd and up into the neck of the gourd. If you pull the wire too hard and break off the neck, you can make a nice bowl with the gourd you just mutilated. This wire is how you hang up the birdhouse. We swirl our wire around a one-inch dowel rod to make it look like a tendril.
Finish: I prime mine with a neutral color. Then paint them with exterior paint. We stick large sticks or dowel rods through an upside down crate for painting and drying. Hang the gourd by putting the “door” over the rod.
Gourd on a stick.Primed and ready for fun.
Then use your imagination to decorate your birdhouse. Let the gourd speak to you. The shapes will vary, so each one will have its own personality.
They will last longer if you also spray them with clear acrylic. We also jazz them up by adding beads onto the hanging wire.
Moon and Stars GourdFiesta Gourd
My daughter paints these and adds the beads. She likes to name them.
Last month my family spent three days down in South Carolina desperately searching for a nice place for my son to live.
Although I was intently hunting down a suitable dwelling, I did manage to stumble upon the vine of my dreams and snag some seeds.
I have been known to return from trips with acorns in my pockets and seeds in my wallet, but I did get permission this time.
The lovely vine was in that charming little town, Cheraw. When I mention this town’s name to my North Carolina neighbors they recall passing through there on the way to the beach. You may recognize this building at the main square.
You folks need to stop in this town to stretch your legs from now on. It is a southern delight of lovely flowers, tasty food and nice people. We felt like old friends everywhere we went. I am a happy mama that my son is surrounded by good folks.
I took a picture of the vine of my dreams with my phone and rushed to the nearest open business, which happened to be the aforementioned, “Charmed by Cheraw” Chamber of Commerce. This is where we found all the help we all needed.
The nice woman there handled my vine emergency while the nice man assisted my son with his housing emergency. She picked up the phone and called the garden club that plants the planters around town.
A member of the Cheraw Garden Club shared the name of the vine and gave me permission to purloin a few ripened pods containing seeds. A card had actually been attached with plant information to the trellis, but it had fallen down. These are my kind of people!
Card posted with information attached to the vine.
So here it is my fellow garden enthusiaists. The vine of my dreams in the phloem.
Cardiospermum helicacabum
It looks like a party on a trellis doesn’t it? It’s the combination of tiny white flowers and pods of various colors that reminds me of confetti. It’s hither and slither growth adds to the explosion effect. What a happy little plant!
The species name is Cardiosperma helicacabum. My guess is that the genus name refers to the black seeds that have a tiny white heart on each one. They look like love beads.
The real punch in the line is the common name, Love in a Puff. I am not making this up folks.
Before you rush to order it from Burpee, I must alert my southern readers that my research warns that Cardiospermum halicacabum may be an invasive, self-seeding annual in Southern zones of 6 and up.
I also read that this delightful plant has been around for two hundred years. Why am I just now finding out about it? Well the secret is out now!
I intend to handle my little seedlings with the same care as I have my other potential renegades… in a pot.
I’ll be sharing my progress with seed germination in April. I do have quite a few seeds collected…legally of course.
My son recently started his career in a lovely town in South Carolina. We spent days trying to find a place for him to rent. It was a moving emergency, but we were determined to find a nice place with a short commute.
Tiny former law office.
Our family spent the better part of three days going to every realtor in the area. I was amazed at how helpful everyone was and how they all seemed to network to help this young new-comer find a home.
We hit gold when we walked in to the Chamber of Commerce Office. Rebecca and Roger made phone calls and listed potential renters on paper for us. Roger even lead us in his car to a potential home and then on a quick tour through a beautiful, historic neighborhood.
Every person we met, from the servers at the local restaurants(The Shed = yum) to the realtors, acted as ambassadors for their town. I expect great things from Cheraw. I am thinking of buying my son a futon for a gift, so that I can spend more time there.
Now that I have told you about the people in town, let’s see their beautiful plants and venues.
The real thrill for me was finding a “new” vine.
The Cheraw Garden Club plants the planters around town. In one of these was the most beautiful little vine with puffy pods. I took a photo and asked Rebecca about it. She contacted the Garden Club and found the name and sent me a link about it. Later, I learned that there was a little card of information on the trellis that had fallen down. These are my kind of people.
One of the generous club members, either Judy or Cheryl, learned of my blog and enthusiasm for the vine and gave me permission to take home a few pods. I love these folks!!!!!
STAY TUNED for my next post about the mystery vine.
New vine. I am in love!
Until then, here are some photos of the unusual plants that were in the planters around town.
