Mystery Squash/Zucchini

Question

I have a plant growing in my garden that I did not plant. I think it came from a pack of bird seed. When I first saw it, I thought it was a courgette, but then it started trailing along the ground and now has climbed up my fence. It is very big and has big yellow flowers and a round fruit, but the flowers keep dying and then the ‘fruit’ rots and drops off when it gets to the size of a golf ball. Do you have any ideas?

Answer 1

It is most likely a pumpkin. They frequently become volunteer plants due to their use at Halloween. The birds eat the discarded seeds from the trash and sometimes drop them as they are flying or a pumpkin ends up in the compost pile and a seed survives and is “planted” when the compost is spread. The fruit rotting and dropping off is likely due to poor pollination.