Brian Minter: Spice up your fall décor with pumpkins
Credit to Author: Mary Beth Roberts| Date: Sat, 12 Oct 2019 13:13:00 +0000
Pumpkins have been repositioned from October’s traditional porch staples to today’s trendy décor “hotties.” And the traditional orange gourd has been joined by many new colours, including pink, blue, yellow and especially white.
These new designer pumpkins are even sneaking their way into Christmas décor. They are not carved but are left intact to last for months—or until you crave a delicious dessert, when they can be transformed into delectable cakes, cookies and pies.
I’m sure we have all seen fruit stands and produce stores that create beautiful seasonal displays. About 10 to 15 years ago, however, top designers started to incorporate autumn flavour into home décor—but on their terms. Simple elegance was their theme, and smaller, more versatile designs became the order of the day.
White pumpkins are the darlings of today’s design circles. Miniature whites, like Baby Boo and Casperita (eight by 11 centimetres), make ideal table toppers, vase fillers and plate accessories. Moonshine (16 by 16 centimetres) is a very bright white that looks great in groupings on a coffee table, especially when accessorized with grasses like the bunny-tail pennisetums. The slightly smaller Snowball (12 x 12 centimetres) combines nicely with Moonshine. For bigger porch and patio statement pieces, a real attention-getter is Full Moon, weighing in at 15 to 30 kilograms and sizing up to 60 centimetres.
These pumpkins will last for months if left whole and washed lightly with bleach to control any bacteria that could cause deterioration. Fall-blooming white chrysanthemums make beautiful companions for white pumpkins.
Other stylish favourites are the new pumpkins that have a low, flattened shape and come in unusual colours. My top picks are the pink Porcelain Doll, the grey-blue Blue Doll and the soft orange Indian Doll. Used by themselves or in combinations, they are eye-catchers. Accessorized with grasses, like dwarf miscanthus Yaku Jima, they look fabulous indoors or out. Soft yellow and pink mums would complete the look.
These pumpkins all have a deep centre cavity, so one of our designers creates magic by gluing a clear saucer on top and filling it with a one-of-a-kind succulent garden using different varieties of tender echeverias and/or hardy sempervivums and sedums. She adds some Spanish moss as a surround to hide the saucer and lets the moss gently spill over the sides. These unique creations can be displayed anywhere inside or out, and they are pure art that will last for months.
For foodies, a whole ancient squash family is suddenly in demand and not only because of its diverse and unusual shapes, warts and all. The flat, warted, richly deep green Marina di Chioggia is one of the most decadently flavoured pumpkins. Its sweet flesh is used for making ravioli and gnocchi. The soft pinkish-orange and heavily warted Galeux d’Eysines is another culinary superstar. Triamble, with its blue-grey triangularly folded skin, is one of the most unusually shaped pumpkins, and it, too, has wonderfully flavoured orange-yellow flesh.
Another one of my favourite new pumpkins is a striking soft yellow called Sunlight, and then there is Grizzly Bear, a greyish light brown with warts that would make any old Disney witch proud.
All of these and many more golden oldies are not tucked away in root cellars but enjoyed for their antique charm. Even the better-known squash have joined in this décor revolution. The traditional acorn squash now comes in a pure white variety called Mashed Potatoes, the heritage Hubbard squash now comes in a beautiful grey called Heavenly Hubbard and New England Blue turns out to be a lovely grey-blue hue.
Whether old or new, pumpkins are ideal for so many reasons, particularly for their relative low cost, their lasting qualities and their versatility in terms of creating interesting décor. They are real conversation pieces at get-togethers, and when all is said and done, you can repurpose them into incredible desserts.