Burpee's Butterbush Butternut is a dwarf butternut squash bred for short seasons and small spaces, producing tender, deeply flavored fruit in just 75 days. Unlike sprawling butternut varieties that demand garden real estate, this compact cultivar sends out vines only 3 feet long while bearing 4 to 5 medium fruits weighing 2 to 4 pounds each. It thrives in zones 3 through 11, making it accessible to gardeners across most of the country, and the fruit stores exceptionally well for winter eating.
Full Sun
Moderate
3-11
?in H x ?in W
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Moderate
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Baker Creek describes the flesh as some of the tastiest they've ever tasted in a butternut squash. The compact vines reach just 3 feet, a revelation for gardeners working with limited space or short growing seasons. Each plant reliably produces multiple fruits in 75 days, and those fruits are considered long keepers, meaning your harvest will feed you well into winter. The variety follows the classic Waltham butternut profile, delivering the reliable flavor and texture that made that type a standard.
Butternut squash is a cornerstone of autumn and winter cooking in North America. Roast the halved fruit with butter and brown sugar, puree it for soups and sauces, or cube it for curries and grain bowls. The dense, smooth flesh also bakes beautifully as a side dish or gets blended into desserts like pies and cheesecake. Its natural sweetness and creamy texture when cooked make it equally at home in savory or slightly sweet preparations.
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Direct sow seeds outdoors after the last frost date when soil temperature reaches 70°F or warmer. Plant seeds 1/2 to 1 inch deep, spacing plants 18 inches apart. Seeds will sprout in 5 to 10 days under warm conditions.
Butternut squash are ready to harvest around 75 days after planting. Pick them when the skin has hardened to a deep tan color and the stem begins to brown and dry. The fruit should feel solid and resist thumb pressure; immature squash will have thin, easily damaged skin. Cut the fruit from the vine with a sharp knife, leaving 2 to 3 inches of stem attached to extend storage life. Harvest before the first frost, as frost will damage the fruit and shorten its keeping potential.
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“Burpee's Butterbush Butternut descends from the Waltham butternut lineage, a legendary American squash that revolutionized home gardening when it emerged in the mid-20th century. This compact selection preserves that heirloom's exceptional flavor while solving a practical problem: not every gardener has room for vines that sprawl 8 to 10 feet. By breeding for a bushy, contained growth habit, seed companies like Burpee made the Waltham's legendary taste available to those with modest garden footprints. The variety represents a thoughtful adaptation of a proven heirloom, not a radical reinvention.”