There are over 200 varieties of pumpkins in the world. That’s a lot of selections to choose from at your local garden store. However, seed manufacturers carry very few pumpkin seed varieties. Chances are, you’ll only find a half a dozen or so varieties at stores and garden centers. Just a few seed manufacturers carry a couple of dozen varieties at most. So, if you are looking for an uncommon pumpkin seed variety, you may have to travel to other countries to find what you are looking for. But, before you book a flight to Mexico or Argentina, we recommend an internet search.
Each variety has different characteristics. There’s big pumpkins, small pumpkins, and everything in between pumpkins. There’s a wide, wide range of colors, shapes and sizes. Aren’t we lucky!?
Here are some common, more popular varieties of pumpkins you can grow this year, with pride!
Jack Be Little – Abbreviated JBL. This little pumpkin fits in the palm of your hand.
While it is tiny, Jack Be Little has a HUGE presence for fall decorating
Baby Boo – Cute, miniature, white pumpkins. Surely, they will make your Halloween even spookier!
Mini Harvest Blend – If you like miniature pumpkins, you’ll love this miniature harvest blend. It includes Hooligan, Gooligan, and Bumpkin. How can you beat that for Fall and Halloween?
Connecticut Field – It’s excellent for large Jack O’Lanterns, averaging 15 to 25 pounds. Bright orange, ribbed rind, with deep yellow, coarse flesh. Connecticut Field pumpkins are a home garden favorite.
Harvest Jack – This easy to grow and high yielding variety, averages 25 – 30 pounds. The fruit is dark orange with long handles. It makes great, large Jack O’Lanterns when Halloween arrives.
Howden – pumpkins are a Halloween favorite. Big, bright orange, and easy to carve. The fruit grows 20 – 30 pounds. The plant can produce 4 – 6 pumpkins.
Jack O’Lantern – It’s the perfect size for Halloween pumpkin carving. The fruit averages 8 to 15 pounds. Bright orange, ribbed fruit.
Jaradale pumpkin – It’s a blue pumpkin. Weighing 6 to 10 pounds, the Jaradale is unique and decorative. Use it for baking, mashing and cooking, too. In addition, Jaradales are long keepers.
Fairy tale – A unique and popular French “cheese” pumpkin. Deeply lobed shape, and rich, deep, tan color. The flesh is fine-grained, and delicious in your favorite recipe. And, it is a long keeper when properly stored. It weighs in at 15-18 pounds.
Blue Doll – This pumpkin will draw surprised stares, and a second look. This almost square fruit, is an eye-catching blue color. And, it grows big, 20 – 30 pounds.
Cinderella – Are you looking for a fairy tale pumpkin? Then, you have found it! This is a French heirloom variety, and very, very popular. The fruit is reddish-orange, flattened and ribbed. It almost looks like a cheese wheel.
Cinderella produces 25 – 35 pound fruit, that is both beautiful and tasty.
Peanut – This truly unique pumpkin is pink with beige bumps, resembling peanuts covering its surface. It is surely unlike any pumpkin you’ve ever seen before. Learn more about the Peanut Pumpkin.
Red Warty – This lumpy red-orange pumpkin certainly will make your weird and eerie Halloween display stand out. It weighs up to 20 pounds. Use it in a wide range of Fall and Halloween decorating. It’s also an excellent eating pumpkin with sweet, stringless flesh.
Dill’s Atlantic Giant – Looking to grow a pumpkin that weighs a thousand pounds or more? This pumpkin variety is unquestionably the Grand Daddy of them all! Get Dill’s Atlantic giant pumpkin seeds.
Sweet Sugar Pie – These pumpkins are perfect for baking. Sweet, finer textured pulp. Undeniably, the Sugar Pie variety sets the standard for baking. Pumpkins average 5 to 7 pounds.
Casper – It’s ghostly white! And, it’s sure to be an attraction in both your pumpkin patch, and in your Fall or Halloween displays.
Wee Be Little – This little pumpkin is just 3 inches in diameter, round and grows to about a pound.
Use them for carving or painting. They are tasty, too!
Pumpkin on a Stick – A truly fascinating plant. Actually, an eggplant, it is quite novel. Use it to WOW fellow gardeners and passersby. Great for fall craft projects, and floral arrangements.
More on different types of pumpkins
How to grow pumpkins by The Gardener’s Network
