There was a time when if I told you something was pumpkin coloured, you would think orange. But there are a lot of different colours of pumpkins around these days. And there seem to be more each year.
You can get the regular old orange pumpkin, but there are many more. You can also get green, yellow, red, blue, white, blue, teal, purple, pink and black. And probably a few variations on those.
Green ones are usually just not ripe. At least according to what I’ve been able to find. The orange ones are green before the get ripe, but if you pick them early enough, they might stay that way.
Red pumpkins are sort of red, but you could mistake them for orange. Although they tend to be flatter, so you can stack them easily. A red pumpkin was apparently used as a model for Cinderella’s couch. So don’t take one for a drive after midnight.
Yellow isn’t uncommon. Some of the giant varieties have a yellow hue to them.
Blue pumpkins are an Australian variety. Pink ones were started in Pennsylvania a few years ago, apparently, and have been sold as a breast cancer fundraiser over the last few years.
You might think black pumpkins would be good for Halloween, but when you think about it, a black pumpkin an a dark night is not going to show up very well.
There are a lot of different types and colours of pumpkins out there. Some of them have associations with other things, rather than just keeping away evil spirits. Like the pink with breast cancer, blue for those with autism or purple for people who may have epilepsy or that the homeowner knows how to deal with those who do.
So it may not be a matter of just grabbing a pumpkin from the display. If you come across some truly different colours, you may want to check before sitting one on the doorstep.
Although most of what we tend to see are your basic orange or white. Those should be pretty safe to carve up for the end of the month.
I’d say my favourite pumpkin is one that’s in a pie. And that just means I need a fork.
