First...I'm not sure you have a long and warm enough growing season to get any C.selloana to flower, male or female. Second, the 'Pumila' cultivar, while not totally sterile, produces very few viable seeds from a good female specimen, in ideal conditions. I'm not sure where you can buy guaranteed viable seed. Finally, your best bet for buying a female plant would be to use a well-reputed source. I can't point you to any such source, but I would talk to places like San Marcos, High Country, Santa Rosa, Kurt Blumel etc., and tell them what you need.

Treelover, Every thing I've read recomends snipping vine when it reaches 8 to 10 feet. I didn't know this last year and had nothing but male flowers until late summer. I've read a few places that says the vines will root if they are in contact with the ground. Mine had plenty of ground contact but none ever rooted. There's many opinions about fertilizing. Many say stop when the vines start producing gourds as this just adds to longer vines. I didn't put any down and they did fine. As far as limiting gourds per vine, the general opinion is that if you're growing big ones as you are doing, limiting gourds per vine will produce much bigger gourds. I would suggest you keep a dairy of everything you do in your gourd patch as well as how your gourds are doing. It sure comes in handy next year and to see what works and what doesn't. Lots of luck. You will find gourd growing is highly addictive. I have some pictures of my gourd patch and gourds from last year as well as the start of the patch this year if you're interested. picturetrail.com/genepa Gene

Here's a question I posted in Texas Gardening, but haven't gotten an answer to. I had considerable success with butternut squash this year. Got a half-dozen big fruit out of just two or three plants. Due to their natural resistance, with a little help from an occasional dusting with Carbaryl, I managed to keep the vine borers at bay. But in the last few weeks, hit with 103+ temps, the plants just faded, even though they were well mulched, I watered them about every other day, and even gave them some shade. The symptoms looked like borers, but I didn't see any burrows. What's the strategy for seeing squash, and cukes for that matter, through the hottest times of the year in the hottest parts of the country? I've seen people suggest watering every day, which seems a bit excessive. In Central Texas we get several summer weeks over 100F, and several months with highs in the 90s and lows in the mid 70s. Y'all up north need not respond.

Thanks for the info re the leaf oil I will get some. I am digging everything up from my front flower beds and moving it to an area in my back yard as soon as it is warm enough. There was frost on my daffodils this AM..I have bermuda grass invasion in my front flower gardens so those gardens are going to be covered with horse manure white oak leaves, misc food scraps and lots of newspaper covered with mulch. Then next spring I am going to plant something new. Hopefully covering the beds for a year will kill the bermuda. I plan on digging a giant hole around the Gardenia and transferring it with as much dirt as I can..In the hope of not disturbing the roots. The Gardenia is in Red Clay right now and was happy til the leaves just started turning alittle yellow. The area where I am moving it was wild thicket, that is now cleared and prepared for new plants.. The ground is brown and seems to be very aerated..Hopefully the condition is better for the Gardenia..I plan to feed it some root food when I move it and then Miracle Grow.. I feel awful about my neighbors dog..She looks so sick..Hopefully she does not have something that will transfer to my dog...These people live across the street from us. I do not talk to these people; They are the only neighbor I do not like..Because; I always let my dog out in the front yard at night. I sit out there and watch him so he does not go out of the yard. One night I let him out and went back in for a second to get a cigarette. I smoke on my front porch. While I was getting a cigarette he ran across the street. Those neighbors were having a loud party. He loves people, I am sure he heard the noise and went to say hello to all the humans..He has never done that before. I started to go and get him, by the time I got to the bottom of my LONG yard I saw them taking him into their house..NO KIDDING. I did not have his leash so I went back up my LONG lawn and got his leash. By the time I got back down the lawn he was running across the street. When I got him in the house he was shaking and look sad. THEY HAD STABBED HIM. He is ok..I did file a complaint..I do not talk to those people because of that...THAT IS JUST CRAZINESS...I would never think to do something like that to their dog or any other dog for that matter. I will get some pictures and file a complaint...Recently they got another dog..So now they have a puppy that stays outside and the old female..They should not have any pets since it appears they do not know how to take proper care of them. I so badly want to feed her myself. But because they are MEAN people I won't.