You can. It would look very charming, in fact, but only for a short time. Once a pumpkin is opened and scooped out and filled with wet stuff, they break down very quickly. I often use pumpkins for fall decorating including flower arrangements, etc. They get rotten, mushy and really smelly quite quickly!

But do you think the roses will be fine to live in the decomposing pumpkin, surrounded bt many many maple leaves until say…March 1st? And then be planted, pumpkin and all into the dirt?

Cool idea!

I would just worry about adequate drainage. Perhaps drill a few holes in the bottom of the pumpkin?

I’m concerned that the whole pumpkin would disintegrate long before March 1st and you would be left with nothing to hold the dirt around the rootball of your rose. It would be like the pot just rotted away around it. But hey, experiments are great and I’d say it’s worth a try! What can you lose? If you keep watch and it looks like it’s going to suffer, you can always plop the whole thing into a pot.

Totally agree with Judi, and decomposing pumpkins get moldy and would probably support other fungal diseases. Diane

Ok. I will just try it with one and report back next spring

Oursteelers, it is a cute idea, and I wish you well. About a century ago, when I was newly married, I remember being so proud of carving a big pumpkin with a jolly face. I set him on the TV pre-Halloween. (TVs were very fat back then). And within a couple of days, punkin's jolly mouth had started to cave in. I learned my lesson. Of course, the heat from the TV helped speed things along. Diane