Vigorous zucchini squash are mainstays in the summer vegetable garden because they are so productive and easy to grow. Have you tried adding a yellow zucchini to your variety mix? The bright yellow fruits are easy to see amidst the pointed green leaves, so they are less likely to be missed during routing picking. Plus, there are a few remarkable varieties that are so buttery-tasting and heavy bearing that some gardeners say they may be the best of all summer squash.
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Yellow zucchini is easy to spot among green foliage
What is Yellow Zucchini?
Starting in the 1960s, vegetable breeders at W. Altee Burpee Seeds in Pennsylvania began crossing ornamental gourds, yellow squash and zucchini to create a colorful yellow squash with the vigor and leaf type of zucchinis. When Golden Zucchini was released in 1973, it was featured on the cover of the Burpee catalog, with a special offer of 50 cents a packet if you also ordered Green Arrow peas. The catalog promised a bushy growth habit and long production of flavorful fruits.
Burpee still sells Golden Zucchini as an heirloom variety, but updated strains have more to offer in terms of disease resistance, productivity and taste. For example, Golden Glory and Yellowfin resist powdery mildew, so they stay healthy longer in warm humid weather. Golden Star has short vines suitable for small beds and containers. A few varieties even set fruit with no pollinators in sight.
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Just as with green zucchini, yellow varieties are super productive
Self-Fertile Yellow Zucchini
In situations where pollination of squash blossoms by insects is likely to be weak, such as under row covers or inside high tunnels, you can grow parthenocarpic (self-fertile) varieties of yellow zucchini. Bee visits are optional, so you can leave the plants under cover until you’re ready to start picking.
The widely available Golden Glory variety is parthenocarpic, as is Easypick Gold II, which has few prickles on the leaves compared to other yellow zucchini varieties. The leaves still look like those of zucchini, but lack its scratchy spines. It would be an ideal choice for a children’s garden.
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Yellow zucchini has a smooth, velvety texture when cooked
Better Butter Squash
Yellow zucchinis have the dense texture of green zucchini paired with sweet notes from summer squash, yet the fruits are less watery and more buttery compared to either ancestral line. Two varieties, Cube of Butter and Butterstick, have earned such devoted followings that some say they are ‘The One’ among summer squash.
Butterstick is so productive that one gardener recommended it for the zombie apocalypse, in part because the silver variegated leaves are well armed with spines. Unlike some yellow summer squash, Cube of Butter is never mushy or seedy, but the thin-skinned fruits do bruise easily so they must be handled with care.
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Pickle relish made with carrots, cucumbers and yellow zucchini
Cooking with Yellow Zucchini
Just as you might want a few orange or yellow tomatoes to go with the red ones, yellow zucchini provides visual pop when paired with dark green zucchini or other green vegetables in summer dishes. Their firm texture helps them work well as a pasta substitute when cut into ribbons or zoodles, and they bring sunny yellow highlights to pickles and relishes. If you’re feeling ambitious, lemon zucchini bread made with yellow zucchini is the perfect thing to make and share with friends and neighbors, and it freezes well, too.
