Buttercup Pumpkin

Cucurbita maxima (cucurbit)

Also known as: Burgess Buttercup, Buttercup Squash


A blocky, drum-shaped little pumpkin with dark green skin and dense, dry, bright orange flesh — bred specifically to substitute for sweet potatoes in cold-climate kitchens, and it delivers. Rich, sweet flavour and fine smooth texture that shines when baked, steamed, or boiled and mashed. Small manageable 2-3kg fruit means one pumpkin is one meal for a family, with no waste. Vigorous vines carry good yields and the fruit stores well once cured.

Days to harvest 95 days
Fruit size 2-3kg — blocky drum shape, dark green skin
Sowing depth 20mm
Germination 5-10 days at 21-35°C
Spacing 100cm apart in rows 250cm apart (vines sprawl 3-4m)
Aspect Full sun, moist well-drained soil
Frost tolerance Frost tender — grown as an annual; sow only after all frost risk has passed

Growing notes

Choose a sunny spot with room to sprawl — vines will run 3-4 metres. Plant on a small mound of enriched soil to give roots warmth and drainage. Watch for powdery mildew in humid weather — good spacing and morning-only watering help.

Soil preparation: A hungry feeder. Dig in generous compost and well-rotted manure before planting, and side-dress again when fruit starts to set. Aim for pH 6.0-6.8.

Support: Ground-grown only — fruit gets heavy for trellises. Slip a tile, board, or thick straw pad under each developing pumpkin to keep it off wet soil and prevent rot.

Harvest & cure: Cut fruit with 5cm of stem still attached once the vine dries off and the skin resists a thumbnail. Cure in a warm, dry, airy spot for 10-14 days to harden the skin, then store somewhere cool (10-15°C) and dry.

Key features

  • Small manageable 2-3kg fruit — perfect single-meal size
  • Rich, sweet, sweet-potato-like flavour
  • Rich, sweet, sweet-potato-like flavour
  • Distinctive drum shape with dark green skin
  • Good keeper — stores well cured
  • Open-pollinated heirloom (Burgess Buttercup, released 1932)

Short season tips


Buttercup is a comparatively quick pumpkin at 95 days — appropriate for its origin story, since it was bred specifically for the short North Dakota growing season. Start seeds in pots 2-3 weeks before your last frost and transplant carefully (cucurbits hate root disturbance — use biodegradable pots you can plant whole). Warm the soil under black plastic for two weeks before planting out to bring soil temperature into the 21°C+ range.

  • Spring
  • Summer

Annual

  • Corn (classic "three sisters" trio) • Climbing beans (fix nitrogen, share the space vertically) • Nasturtium (trap crop for aphids and squash bugs) • Marigold (repels beetles and nematodes) • Borage (attracts pollinators, critical for fruit set) • Radish (trap crop for cucumber beetles) • Oregano (repels pests, ground cover)
  • Potatoes (heavy feeders, compete for the same nutrients) • Brassicas (cabbage, broccoli — compete heavily and attract different pests) • Other Cucurbita maxima varieties if seed saving (cross-pollination — will cross with Blue Banana, Cinderella Rouge, and Baby Blue) • Fennel (inhibits most vegetable growth) • Don't repeat in the same bed each season — rotate to break the squash bug and vine borer cycle


The original 'Burgess Buttercup' was developed at the North Dakota Agricultural College (now North Dakota State University) in 1925 as an accidental cross between 'Essex Hybrid' (an orange turban-type from 1879) and 'Quality' (a small green variety from 1914). It was released commercially by the Burgess Seed Company in the early 1930s. The breeding programme's goal was to create a squash with rich, sweet flavour to serve as a substitute for sweet potatoes, which couldn't be reliably grown in North Dakota's cold climate. The variety became one of the ancestors of the modern kabocha squash lineage.