Best Summer Squash Varieties for 2024 Gardens
May 2nd 2024
Summer squash is famous and most beloved in-home gardens due to easy cultivation and large yields. 2024 is the year of squash. Whether you've limited space, want to grow squash in containers, or grow in a large area, there is a variety to add to your summer crops list. The summer squash varieties include patty pans, round squash, zucchini, yellow squash, and some cultivars with bold stripes. Summer squash grows best in warm weather, like vine crops. Some squash varieties form long vines; others are bush types that can fit into a small garden.
Are you looking for the best and easiest-to-grow varieties of summer squash to plant in your garden? Don't worry because multiple varieties are available for every garden. Let's explore these varieties, including their zones and days to maturity, and discover how rewarding it is to grow your squash in the garden.
Yellow Crookneck Varieties
Yellow crookneck squash varieties can be easily identified by their thin, curved necks and bulbous bottoms. They have a smooth or bumpy texture and thicker and waxier skins than regular yellow summer squash. Crookneck squash varieties can be grilled, baked, sautéed, or made into soup. Here are the yellow crookneck varieties.
Zephyr
Hardiness Zone: 3-10
Days to Maturity: 54 days
These summer squashes have a unique two-toned appearance. Zephyr fruits are long and slender, featuring a pale-yellow color with pale green ends that make them look dipped in green dye. If the plant undergoes extreme stress, like extended drought conditions, its coloring can change. This summer squash variety will stand out in your garden. This is an annual plant that grows in full sun. Harvest the fruit carefully because it is thin-skinned and can easily be bruised.
Supersett
Hardiness Zone: 3-11
Days to Maturity: 40 days
If you want a bumper crop of squash early, grow Supersett in your garden. This is an early-maturing crookneck variety that provides abundant harvests with delicate flavor. The Supersett variety produces fruits with smooth, yellow, glossy skin. Its fine-textured flesh has a nutty and sweet flavor. Supersett squash grows on bush plants with few spines and is highly resistant to mildew. Harvest the fruit when it reaches 5-6 inches long.
Tempest
Hardiness Zone: 2-11
Days to Maturity: 54 days
Tempest squash is the chef's favorite squash variety because of its versatility and vibrant color. Its exceptional flavor makes it well-suited to different cooking methods. Try it grilled with a little salt, pepper, and olive oil; you will love it. The Tempest fruit is medium yellow with a bulbous body. Harvesting this variety is easy because the plant has an open growing habit and soft spines.
Related Post: Top 10 Vegetables to Grow in Hot Summers
Patty Pan Varieties
Patty pan squash varieties are also called scalloped squash. They are shallow and round with scalloped edges. The ideal time to harvest this squash is when they are small, 2-3 inches in diameter. They are soft, and when picked early, the seed cavity remains small, which makes them easy to roast, grill, or sautéed.
Sunburst
Hardiness Zone: 3-9
Days to Maturity: 50-55 days
Sunburst is a delicious pattypan hybrid known for its productivity and earliness. Its fruits are gorgeous, bright yellow, with a green ring on the ends. It produces scallop squash with a mild, buttery flavor that is perfect for stir-frying. These squashes have the best flavor when harvested at 2-3 inches as baby squash.
Jaune et Verte
Hardiness Zone: 3-9
Days to Maturity: 50 days
This patty pan variety has creamy white skin, green stripes, and fine-grained and tasty flesh. Jaune et Verte grows vertically as it matures. Because of its unique color, it is easy to spot on the vine. It is best to pick this summer squash variety young. As they mature and grow larger, they get hard, which is not good for eating. However, you can use them as ornamental gourds.
Round and Oval Varieties
These are round squash and zucchini. Round varieties are best harvested when they are 2-3 inches. They are great for stuffing. Give this squash more time to mature and try them stuffed. Here are some round and oval varieties of summer squash.
Golden Egg
Hardiness Zone: Annual for 1-11
Days to Maturity: 41 days
Golden Egg is a prolific and early maturing summer squash variety with a bright yellow color. It produces attractive egg-shaped fruits with greenish-white flesh with a nutty, sweet flavor. Harvest them when they reach about four inches long. Golden egg fruits are easy to spot on sprawling plants.
Eight Ball
Hardiness Zone: 2-12
Days to Maturity: 50 days
This hybrid summer squash variety is full-round and features a rich green color. It is the All America Selections (AAS) winner. It has a buttery flavor with firm and edible skin, so it is great grilled and added to a burger. Like patty pan varieties, the fruit is best picked when it is 2-3 inches in diameter, but it can grow up to 4-6 inches wide. Its fruit has spines, so wear gloves and be cautious when harvesting.
Cue Ball
Hardiness Zone: 2-12
Days to Maturity: 48 days
This round squash is pale green with light white flecking. Its flesh is creamy white with barely noticeable seeds. The cue ball is one of the productive types of summer squash, offering large yields all season. Additionally, it is disease resistant. It has a buttery, sweet, and nutty flavor like traditional zucchini.
Zucchini Varieties
Zucchini is a popular summer squash that has become a common crop among gardeners and farmers. This squash variety is versatile in flavor, color, and shape. Compared to crookneck varieties, zucchini have thinner skin, straighter shape, and flattened sides. It is deliciously grilled, sautéed, steamed, spiralized, or fried.
Learn more about zucchini and gain information for cultivating these plants in our zucchini and squash growing guide.
Black Beauty
Hardiness Zone: 4-7
Days to Maturity: 50 days
This popular open-pollinated heirloom variety has gained popularity for good causes. This zucchini variety has dark green to black skin with creamy white flesh. If harvested continuously, fast-growing seeds will produce abundant fruit all summer long. Black Beauty won the AAS prize in 1957 for its abundant harvests, delicious fruit, and ease of growing. This squash variety is as tasty as raw as it is cooked.
Contender
Hardiness Zone: 3-9
Days to Maturity: 43 days
Contender is a summer beauty that must be in every summer garden. It has a beautiful deep green exterior with golden flecks. Contenders produce fruit earlier and in abundance all summer and fall. Harvest the fruit when they reach 8-9 inches.
Bossa Nova
Hardiness Zone: 3-9
Days to Maturity: 45 days
This summer squash variety has a gorgeous mottled dark and light green exterior that sets it apart. Its smooth-textured flesh has a sweet and mild taste. If you have limited garden space, grow it in a container. This zucchini variety will please your taste buds with its amazing flavor.
The Bottom Line
Summer squash, a favorite in home gardens, is a versatile vegetable. It can be enjoyed raw, cooked, shredded, or baked, and even its flowers are edible. Unlike winter squash, summer varieties mature quickly. Some types, however, require ample space to sprawl. For optimal growth, plant them in full sun from early spring to mid-summer, after the last frost.
Choose some of your favorite varieties from the list for cultivation and enjoy delicious, prolific, home-grown squash this season!