Pumpkin Blue Prince, a 2020 National Winner in All-America Selections’ Edible category, is certainly deserving of both its AAS Winner status and of its “prince” name. What makes it “princely”? It’s a benefit for home gardeners when a vegetable variety checks off both the “great taste” and “decorative” boxes, as Pumpkin Blue Prince does. It’s even better when one more box is checked—and that one is “simple to grow.”

Pumpkin Blue Prince is a blue-skinned, squat-and-flat-shaped pumpkin with a deep-orange flesh. It’s a vigorously growing vining plant that trails up to 5 feet. It can create a mound along the ground that is about 18 inches high. The fruits are about 7-9 pounds at about 12 inches in diameter.

It’s obvious selling point is that it’s beautiful and completely appropriate to use in fall decorating schemes. But according to the judges who choose the All-America Selections winners each year, Blue Prince is one of those rare squash varieties that is both decorative and delicious. Why? First, it’s flesh is not stringy—as some decorative pumpkins can be—and that makes it easy to use in the kitchen. Second, it’s flesh is both savory and sweet.

How to Grow Pumpkin Blue Prince

Pumpkin Blue Prince will take 110 days to be ready for harvest after sowing seeds directly into the garden. Sow those seeds in a sunny location when the soil has reached 65F. Be sure to space them far enough apart to allow vines to grow up to 5 feet. Planting seeds in a raised mound can help with the trailing vines as well as ensure the soil drains well. Mulching will help keep down competing weeds and will help conserve water in the hot growing months.

Pumpkin Blue Prince was the first pumpkin variety in the AAS Trials to flower, which means it’s a good variety for regions where the growing season is shorter. It also showed better tolerance to powdery mildew and southern root rot than the other pumpkin varieties in the trials.

Blue Prince is one of those rare vegetables that is both a beauty to behold and a flavor worth savoring. As one AAS judge stated, “Overall, if I was looking for a blue pumpkin to display AND eat, I’d pick this entry every time!”