Description

Zucchino da Fiore. This is a dual-purpose variety that produces delicious zucchini if the flowers are pollinated. It is also the preferred variety for squash blossoms, which are popular in Italian cuisine. They are often stuffed with cheese, breaded, and fried for an appetizer, or sliced into ribbons on salads and casseroles. If you want only flowers, cover the plants with row cover to prevent insect pollination and pick the blossoms every day or two. They are at their best first thing in the morning when they just begin to open. Plant is a runner (like most varieties that produce many flowers) so give 5 feet or so between hills. Transplants: Start seed in individual containers 2-3 weeks before final frost date and transplant carefully to avoid root damage when soil is warm. Direct seed: Grow in hills, 5-6 seeds in a 7-8 inch circle and thin to 2-3 plants. Space hills 5 feet apart. Or sow 3 seeds per foot in a row and thin to one plant per 12 inches. Space rows 6 feet apart. 3 gram packet - about 25 seeds.