Yellow Bush Scallop Squash (Button)

Cucurbita pepo

Also known as: Yellow Patty Pan, Yellow Scallopini, Button Squash



A vigorous, medium-sized bush carrying heavy crops of bright yellow, disc-shaped fruit with softly scalloped edges. Best picked at the "button" stage — small, tender, and around 5–8cm across — when the whole fruit can go straight into the pan, sliced or halved. Grilled, sautéed, stuffed, or dropped into a stir-fry, they hold their shape and take on flavour beautifully. Kept picked, the plant produces steadily for weeks. Bush habit — no trellis or trailing room required.

Days to harvest 50–70 days from sowing
Fruit size Scalloped disc, best picked young at 5–8cm
Sowing depth 15mm
Germination 7–10 days at soil temperature 21–35°C
Spacing 60cm between plants, 90cm between rows
Aspect Full sun; moist, well-drained soil rich in organic matter
Frost tolerance Frost-tender — sow after last frost only

Growing notes

A warm, sunny position suits it best. Bush scallop starts producing quickly once the weather warms and rewards regular picking through the season.

Soil preparation: Well-rotted compost and aged manure worked in before sowing. Squash are heavy feeders, so build the bed generously.

Sowing method: Sow direct into warm soil at 15mm deep, or raise seedlings in large pots for transplant, spacing 60cm apart in rows 90cm apart.

Support: None needed — the plant holds itself upright as a compact bush.

Containers: Suits a large pot of 40L or more. Keep water and feed consistent, as pots dry out faster than beds and summer squash are thirsty croppers.

Watering & feeding: Deep, consistent watering at the base — this variety is susceptible to mildew, so keep water off the leaves. Side-dress with well-rotted manure or a balanced liquid feed once flowering starts.

Harvest: Pick every two to three days once fruiting begins, cutting fruit at button size (5–8cm) for the tenderest eating. Larger fruit turn tough and slow the plant down, so pick even the ones you don't need. Fresh use only — this is a summer squash, not a keeper.

Timing: First fruit ready 50–70 days from sowing.

Key features

  • Compact bush habit — no vine to train
  • Prolific and long-producing
  • Distinctive scalloped disc-shaped fruit
  • Best eaten small at button stage
  • Well suited to small gardens and large containers
  • Continuous cropping if kept picked

Short season tips


Direct sow into warm ground from mid-spring to early summer once frost risk has passed. In Coonabarabran and similar inland zones, that means mid-November onwards. If time is tight, start seed indoors in large pots 2–3 weeks before transplanting — squash resent root disturbance, so handle carefully and move on with the root ball intact. A staggered sowing three to four weeks after the first extends the picking window into autumn.

  • Spring
  • Summer

Annual

  • Corn, climbing beans, nasturtium, borage, marigold
  • Potatoes, other cucurbits within cross-pollination distance if saving seed


Scallop squashes are among the oldest cultivated forms of Cucurbita pepo, grown by Indigenous North American gardeners long before European contact and later carried into European gardens where they took on the French name pâtisson and the English patty pan. Selected over centuries for their tender flesh, compact bush habit, and distinctive scalloped shape, yellow strains like this one remain a favourite in home gardens for the sheer weight of fruit they carry through summer.