Cucurbita pepo Origin: Louisa, Virginia Improvement status: Cultivar Seeds per packet: ~18 Germination tested 01/2026: 99% Life cycle: Annual From our dear friend and master plant breeder Edmund Frost of Common Wealth Seed Growers in Virginia, 'Resilient Fire' is a new orange Halloween pumpkin bred specifically to resist downy mildew — so that they grow reliably well into October. They also have good vine borer resistance, an uncommon trait for Cucurbita pepo varieties. The average size is 11 inches in diameter. Here's what Edmund has to say about this exciting new squash, which is still under development (and Edmund would love your feedback!): "For Virginia and similar climates we recommend planting in mid-to-late June for harvest in mid-to-late October. Some percentage of plants (23% in 2022) will make pumpkins with skin that is too hard to carve. This is a trait we've been selecting against (though in the future we will probably release a separate variety with hard skin). Shapes vary from round to somewhat oblong, and they ripen to a deep orange color. They trended towards more oblong in 2022.'Resilient Fire' comes from a cross between 'Magic Lantern', an orange carving pumpkin resistant to powdery mildew (which may also confer some downy mildew resistance); and an orange squash from Tamaulipas, Mexico, called 'Tutume'. We got 'Tutume' (PI 532389) and about a dozen other tropical Cucurbita pepo seedstocks from the USDA germplasm system for a late-planted downy mildew trial in 2018. 'Tutume' was the only squash that handled the downy mildew and produced well in the trial. Its possible this variety has higher than average susceptibility to squash bugs — it has always done well for us in late plantings but struggled with squash bugs one of the times we planted them early. Consider using row cover on young plants if you have high squash bug pressure.These seeds and their offspring are open-source, and not available for private intellectual property ownership. Pass on these words when you pass on the seeds!"Thanks Edmund! Grateful for your work!
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