A great fall festive display isn’t complete without a few specialty pumpkins – especially some green pumpkins to add a nice contrast to the more-typical orange fruits.
Green Pumpkins are select cultivars of round Curcubita winter squash with green-colored skin. Green Pumpkins range from dusky-green heirlooms like Triamble Pumpkins and Kabocha Pumpkins, warted green cultivars like Marina Di Chioggia and Crespo, to mottled or striped varieties like Speckled Hound and Rembrandt. Green Pumpkins are sought after as both ornamental pumpkins and also often as gourmet cooking varieties.
Read on to learn all about some of the best Green Pumpkins!
1. Triamble pumpkin (Shamrock pumpkin)
Triamble Pumpkins, nicknamed “Shamrock Pumpkins”, are medium-sized slate-green pumpkins with a unique three-lobed shape. These heirloom pumpkins weigh about 8 pounds when ripe, and make just as good cooking pumpkins as they do ornamentals.
Triamble pumpkins can be a bit tricky to find at the store or pumpkin patch, as they’re specialty ornamental pumpkins. The best way to get them is to grow your own pumpkins at home (here are some shops with a good selection of pumpkin seeds).
2. Thai Kang Kob pumpkin
Thai Kang Kob Pumpkin is a small-medium, dark green to grey-green Thai heirloom pumpkin. These ribbed, warty fruits grow on pest-resistant plants. Ripe Thai Kang Kob Pumpkins weigh 6-8 pounds and have excellent cooking characteristics.
3. Marina Di Chioggia pumpkin
Marina Di Chioggia is a medium-sized, dark green Italian heirloom pumpkin. These Italian heirlooms weigh about 10-12 pounds each and are known for their warty, wrinkly, almost bubbly rind. Marina Di Chioggia is an excellent decorative and cooking pumpkin, with wedges often served roasted with a bit of olive oil and salt.
4. Speckled Hound Pumpkin
Speckled Hound Pumpkins are small-medium-sized hybrid pumpkins with orange rinds covered in splashes and streaks of dark green (particularly down the ribs). These eye-catching pumpkins are quite unique! Ripe Speckled Hound Pumpkins weigh 3-6 pounds each and vary in their orange/green pattern coloration. They also make nice cooking pumpkins.
5. Shishigatani pumpkin
Shishigatani Pumpkin is a medium-sized, dark green Japanese heirloom pumpkin. This pumpkin has a unique hourglass shape with a ribbed, warty rind. Shishigatani Pumpkin is a gourmet culinary heirloom pumpkin known for its fined-grained flesh and balanced, earthy flavor.
6. Pepitas pumpkin
Pepitas Pumpkins are medium-sized round yellow pumpkins with mottled green stripes down the sides. This hybrid variety is known for its delicious pumpkin seeds, which don’t have tough hulls around them. Ripe Pepitas pumpkins weigh 9-12 pounds and are great for both ornamental purposes and for cooking. Plants are resistant to powdery mildew. The Pepitas Pumpkin was named an All-America Selections winner in 2016.
7. Honey Bear squash
Honey Bear Squash is a round, shiny, dark green acorn squash with the appearance of a small pumpkin (albeit with a pointed base). These delicious pumpkin-like squash weigh about a pound each and grow on somewhat-compact plants. Honey Bear Squash was named an All-America Selections winner in 2009 and went on to receive the RHS Award Of Garden Merit in 2011.
8. American Tondo pumpkin
American Tondo Pumpkin is a medium-sized round pumpkin with a yellow rind and mottled green stripes. Ripe pumpkins weigh about 8-12 pounds and are excellent for cooking. The fruits are nicely ribbed and highly ornamental.
9. Winter Sweet squash
Winter Sweet Squash is a small, pale-green hybrid Kabocha pumpkin with a smooth rind and dense, flavorful flesh. These distinctive squash are highly ornamental and tend to have their best flavor once they’ve been stored for several months. Ripe Winter Sweet Squash weighs 4-5 pounds.
10. Bonbon squash
Bonbon Squash is a round, pumpkin-like buttercup squash with a dark green rind, light grey stripes, and a button at the base of the fruit. Ripe Bonbon squash weighs 4-5 pounds and are excellent cooking fruit. The Bonbon Squash was named an All-America Selections winner in 2005.
11. Kabocha pumpkin
Kabocha Pumpkin is a small, dark green heirloom pumpkin variety from Japan, also known as the Japanese Black Pumpkin. These pumpkins have a rough outer rind and a bright orange interior. Such a distinct appearance makes it perfect for decoration. The sweet, fine-textured flesh is perfect for making curries, pumpkin bread, and other delicious fall recipes. Each pumpkin ranges in size from about 3-5 pounds. Large-fruited Kabocha pumpkins received the RHS Award of Garden Merit in 2011.
12. Cha Cha squash
Cha Cha Squash is a hybrid Kabocha pumpkin cultivar with a dark green rind and vertical grey stripes. These pumpkins weigh 4-5 pounds each and store very well. They are highly rated for flavor and texture in cooked applications.
13. Yuxi Jiang Bing Gua squash
Yuxi Jiang Bing Gua Squash is a small-medium rounded, deeply ribbed squash that has a bright green color when young and tender. This versatile fruit can be enjoyed when tender or can be left to mature on the vine into a yellow-rind winter squash. Ripe Yuxi Jiang Bing Gua Squash weighs in the range of 3-8 pounds.
14. Green Striped Cushaw pumpkins
Green Striped Cushaw Pumpkins are uniquely-shaped, medium-sized pumpkins that have an elongated “neck” and mottled green stripes. Ripe fruits vary quite a bit in size from 7-25 pounds. These pumpkins are highly ornamental and also great for cooking.
15. Tours pumpkin
Tours Pumpkin is a tall, oval-shaped, medium-large French heirloom cultivar with green and yellow stripes. Ripe Tours pumpkins weigh 16-18 pounds each. These ornamental pumpkins add height to a display of different types of pumpkins, and can also be used for cooking.
16. Shokichi Green Mini Kabocha pumpkin
Shokichi Green Mini Kabocha Pumpkin is a small Kabocha cultivar with a grey-green rind and light vertical streaks. These are fine-textured cooking pumpkins that grow on productive plants. Ripe Shokichi Green Mini Kabocha Pumpkins weigh just under a pound each, making them the perfect single-serving size.
17. Shokichi Shiro squash
Shokichi Shiro Squash is a light-green mini Kabocha Pumpkin that makes both a great ornamental and good cooking pumpkin. Most fruits weigh just under a pound when ripe. The hybrid plants are very productive.
18. Burgess Buttercup squash
Burgess Buttercup Squash is a commonly-available heirloom winter squash that works well as a small, green-skinned pumpkin in festive autumn displays. They have a turban-like button on the bottom, and the rind often has thin vertical grey streaks. Ripe fruits weigh about 3 pounds each and are excellent for cooking.
19. Yokohama pumpkin
Yokohama Squash is an heirloom dark-green winter squash from Japan. The wrinkly, irregular pumpkin-like fruits have a very dark green colored rind. This Japanese heirloom has been popular in the USA since the 1850’s!
20. Crespo squash
Crespo Squash is an extremely warty green-blue heirloom pumpkin from South America. They are known as excellent cooking pumpkins but are also highly ornamental. Many other blue-green wrinkled heirlooms are thought to be descended from Crespo Squash, including Buen Gusto de Horno and Marina di Chioggia.
21. Musquee De Maroc pumpkin
Musquee De Maroc Pumpkins are unusual, small-medium sized terra-cotta colored pumpkins with large, dark green warts covering the surface in a vertical, striped pattern. This cultivar is an heirloom from North Africa and is highly prized as an unusual ornamental as well as a cooking pumpkin. Ripe Musquee De Maroc pumpkins weigh 5-10 pounds each.
22. Tiptop squash
Tiptop Squash is a round, pumpkin-like acorn squash that doubles well as an ornamental dark-green mini pumpkin. These tasty fruits have a very dark green-black color over their shiny rind. Plants are resistant to powdery mildew. Each ripe Tiptop squash weighs 2-3 pounds.
23. Iran squash
Iran Squash is a large Iranian heirloom pumpkin cultivar with unique mottled peach and green skin. The rind is slightly ribbed and highly ornamental. Plants are drought and heat tolerant. Ripe Iran Squash can weigh about 50 pounds each and can be stored for over a year.
24. Buen Gusto De Horno pumpkin
Buen Gusto De Horno Pumpkin, also called Calabaza Buen Gusto, is a medium-sized, green heirloom pumpkin cultivated in Spain. These ancient pumpkins have a very wrinkled, thick rind and deep ribs. Individual pumpkins weigh 10-15 pounds. As the name suggests, they are known for their great taste as a cooked pumpkin.
25. Crown Prince pumpkin
Crown Prince Pumpkins are small hybrid pumpkins with a smooth, silver-blue rind. They have a turban-like button on the base. They store very well and are highly rated for taste. Ripe fruits weigh about 5 pounds. Crown Prince Pumpkins received the RHS Award of Garden Merit in 2011.
26. Sugar Cup pumpkin
Sugar Cup Pumpkins are medium-sized, richly-colored, green-blue pumpkins with an heirloom appearance. They have very thick stems and some fruits have turban-like buttons on the bottom. Ripe fruits weigh about 8 pounds each.
27. Rembrandt pumpkin
Rembrandt Pumpkin is a large hybrid ornamental pumpkin with a mottled rind, showing off both a peachy-pink color and a green-blue shade. Rembrandt Pumpkins grow to 15-20 pounds each and are stunning in fall displays. Some fruits have a pointed tip.
28. Dark Knight pumpkin
Dark Knight Pumpkin is a medium-sized dark green (almost black) pumpkin. These hybrid pumpkins hold their dark green-black rind color when picked early. They have a pear-like shape with gentle ribs down the side. Most Dark Knight Pumpkins reach about 8-10 pounds when picked.
29. Mint Prince pumpkin
Mint Prince Pumpkin is a medium-sized hybrid pumpkin with a light green rind. Ripe Mint Prince Pumpkins weigh 7-10 pounds and grow on productive, long-vining plants. These pumpkins have lovely smooth skin and a flattened shape, making them perfect for stacking and combining with other ornamental varieties.
30. Jade Knight pumpkin
Jade Knight Pumpkin is a medium-sized hybrid green pumpkin. These pumpkins have a lovely green-grey rind that is highly ornamental. They have deep ribbing and a classic flattened yet blocky shape.
31. Jarrahdale pumpkin
The Jarrahdale Pumpkin is a medium-large heirloom pumpkin cultivar with a distinctive blue-grey peel color. These pumpkins generally weigh 12-18 pounds and have pronounced ribs. It is an excellent addition to the autumn decor and well-suited to a variety of recipes. Jarrahdale is one of the most popular heirloom pumpkins.
