About two years ago, I collected a native coyote melon (Cucurbita palmata) from a huge plant (8 ft across/25 feet long) about 1/2 mile from my house. I think it was in the low spot on a small dry lake, so it was in the optimal spot for water collection.

Anyway, after the gourd dried up, I cracked it open and tried to get some of the seeds to sprout in some clay pots with native soil. Nothing happened after watering for a couple of weeks. Oh, well -- birds, rodents, ants, whatever got the seeds, I figured.

Later, I used the same pot to try to get a Luther Burbank spineless cactus to go. (I have incredibly bad luck trying to get cactus to go from pads.) I moved the pad and the dirt out into a hole in a corner of my yard and put it on the drip line, which I buried because my local rodents like to chew on the line in this part of the yard. The cactus went completely kaput. I kept meaning to pull the line and the emitter and put in a plug, but out of sight, out of mind.

So, last spring up pops this little baby coyote melon vine. I left it alone. By midsummer it was roughly a circular patch about 5 feet across. It produced flowers and melons later. Started to dry up until rodents chewed a hole in the nearby drip line and the vine started getting more water -- now it's suddenly covered with new leaves, one gourd, five more flowers coming up.

And, after tasting the liquid inside (very bitter, astringent) I smeared the liquid all over the drip line the rodents keep chewing. They haven't chewed on it since.

The rabbits/wood rats/ground squirrels/kangaroo rats that are munching on all my store bought stuff won't touch it. It is relatively attractive.

A couple of weeks ago I found another baby vine starting up next to a rosemary plant I put in last spring. This is the general area where I had placed the pots when I was trying to get the vine to go in the first place.

Are there any reasons I shouldn't try to get this to grow and use as a groundcover around my tastier plants?

Good experiences/bad experiences?

Thanks.

Your task is to write about it, and post pictures.

I'll post a picture of my plant as soon as I can get out and take some pictures.

I had read about the foul odor. Haven't yet experienced it. Both of my vines are out in the open and it's a rare day we don't have wind.

Maybe I found a mutant?