At a seed swap years ago, someone gave me some birdhouse gourd seeds. It was just a few of them. I thought it would be fun, so I planted them. They vined like kudzu, taking over the back portion of the garden, the cucumber trellis and then threatened to cover the cows, chickens, and goats. What a prolific plant!
They produced many birdhouse gourds. I dried them, sanded them, drilled a hold in the side and cut dowels to be used as a perch for the feathered occupants. Then a hole was cut in the neck and a leather strap was fastened to it. We hung the birdhouses in the pecan tree. They looked so welcoming and inviting. And they were. But not to birds. Wasps found that they provided protection from the weather and moved in. Before we knew it, all of the wasps hung NO VACANCY signs. They were full.
Birdhouse gourds produce a bajillion seeds and they come up volunteer every year. Last year we had yet another bumper crop of wasp houses... errr birdhouses. I vowed never again. Tricia decided she'd make some colorful ornaments to hang from the tree. We just wouldn't drill a hole in them this time! Here's some of the gourds, sanded and ready for painting.
The industrious lady of the manor fashioned a mechanism with bungee cords and temporary electric fence posts to hang the gourds for painting.
The first three were painted a glossy cobalt blue.
Some were happy yellow...
The wasps (and birds) will have to seek out a realtor for their home searches. These will be unoccupied decorations only!
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