Well maybe you have.  Some years ago living in Arizona out of curiosity I planted some "birdhouse" gourds along with several other types.  Something about watching them develop as they grew and then the simi end result after they dried and then actually used for something was very fascinating to me.   Later when I moved back to Oregon I wasn't sure if the climate would allow them to grow and mature but I tried anyway.  I have found that some types do not have time to mature here as the summers are just too short.  However several types such as the Mexican Bottle, dipper and small ornamental type have around a 90 day cycle and do pretty good.  I found that the larger Bushel gourds and luffa just take too long.
On this page you will find some pics of some results of the gords when decorated.  All of these except one I grew here and gave to friends, seeing how they decorate the gourd is also a fun part of the "Gord" thing.  By the way, the gourd is part of the cucumber family.

Here is a bunch grown in 07, some dippers, mexican bottle and some small bushel.  The Bushel should be about twice that size.  Many of the bushel didn't dry at all and rotted.
When growing gourds, there are two main families that most people choose to spend their time and effort on.  Lagenaria Gourds which as a rule have a white flower as a blossom and Cucurbita Gourds which usually sport a yellow flower. the Lagenaria family is more of a hard shelled type like the Bottle ( mexican bottle, large bottle and such), Dipper ( large ,small), Calabash (often called Penguin or Powderhorn), Bushel (giant and common) and the common Martin among other lesser grown types.  Although about any of these are used as "birdhouse" normally the Bottle and Martin are the most common use.  The hard shelled type are more use full for crafts in my opinion as when they are cured they have a much harder and thicker shell than the Cucurbita family which include the Turks Turbin , Crown of Thorns, Spoon , Warted , Egg and several other small decorative type are smaller and thinner softer shelled.  They are used more for decoration on the holiday table center piece.  You have to be carefully when preserving these "soft" shell type as if you clear coat them too soon they are not dried out and will rot, if you waite too long they lose there bright colors.  I have heard of successfully waxing them however I have never tried it. One interesting gourd however is the Luffa gourd.  Not only is it eatable it is what luffa sponges( you know those high dollar sponges you buy at the health and beauty shops!  yep it a gourd.) are made out of. I grew these in Arizona and had good luck with them but the summer here in NE Oregon just isn't long enough for them.  By the way, they are one tough sponge and is quite a project getting the sponge out of the shell.  You basically let the gourd dry fully, then stick it in a large container of water that you can put a weight on to hold the whole gourd under water until the shell is soft enough to peel off.  Peel off the shell and slice the guts up into sponges, remove the seeds and there ya go. 

Above is a small Bushel gourd that was picked just before first frost.  Below is one after it dried for about 7 months.  Notice the mold marks.  Do not worry if the gourds start to mold a little, this gives them some unique colorations when they are dried and sanded.  The gourd below has not been sanded as of the picture.  It will be sanded to remove a thin waxy coating ( trust me, paint or clear coat won't stick to the coating) and then clear coated. it will bring the markings out and look pretty darn cool.
 

On the left is a small bushel that has the mold spots but has yet to be sanded or coated.  The one on the right is sanded and clear coated, they are not the same gourd but you can see how the mold spots give the gourd some unique markings.

                              
Here are 3 I made candle holders out of. the one on the left is a Mexican Bottle gourd dried (of course) sanded and clear coated.  I cut the top off just so the small glass thing ( I found at the dollar store) would sent partially in and stuck a candle in it.  The one on the right is a real small Bushel with the same treatment.  I also put a hand full of aquarium rock in the bottom of the gourd to give it some stability. The one below has had the same treatment, had purtier colors tho.

A note on putting a finnish on the hard shelled gourds. First make sure it is completely dry, usually they become real light weight and when shaken you can hear the seeds rattle and when thumped you can hear the "hollow" sound.  You need to lightly sand the gourd, it has a thin waxy film on it and if it is not sanded off paint or clearcoat will not stick to it.  I find it hard to paint gourds with cool markings on them so I clear coat them.  Although you paint the outside if you are going to put the gourd out in the weather try to place it where the wind will have a less chance of blowing rain in any hole you might have cut in it.  I would bring them in in the winter as well especially if you live where snow and freezing is a yearly thing.

            
This is from my 07 crop, The gourd belongs to a friend Donna who had her friend Ellyn decorated it. Very nice job
Below are some more of Ellyn's gourd work. Some very nice stuff. I did not grow these gourds but look like a small type of bushel gourd.

 

nice job Ellyn

   Here is a pair of Penguin gourds, yes that is the actual name of the type of gourd.  The beak is actually the stem. I did not grow these gourds.  They belong to a friend Char line who's mother did these. Not sure how old they are but my guess is close the 50 yrs.

This gourd I grew in Az back in the "80's" and was a given to a family friend who had it decorated a couple years ago.

look.......gords...in trees.....for rent !!
Steve and Helen Vermillion made these cool looking bird houses out of a couple of the bottle gords from my "06"crop.
part 1 of three

This is part 1 of a 3 piece outdoor bird feeder / bath for the large planter which has 10 speckeled swan gourds plants in it. By mid summer they should be grown up to where they are climbing in and around the feeder / bath.  I will add the pictures of the other 2 pieces as well as the final project  when I get that far.

aug 2008
 
Part 2...this is for over the gird bath part.  it is a smalloval gord hollowed out with a doorway cut in and a wizard inside.  The blue rocks is gravel from out of an old aquarium.  The clear colored rocks are just backyard rocks I run through a tumbler a few years ago.  Other rock is just small rock out of the south 40.  All the rock is attached with clear silicone.  The blue and white gourd is a small dipper that didn't quite mature but did harden.


part 3... the gord forest

aug 2008

with luck, by end of july the gourds should pretty much cover the whole framework

Well close [ aug 20 2008 ]

bird bath

bunch of little ornimentals on my gord bush

So far this year ( June 10 - 08) I have about 40+ gourd plants up.  about 7 dipper, 10 mex bottle, 10 speckeled swan, 6 penguin and 2 different groups of small ornimental ( hard to count but will guess about 10 plants.  Of course there will be a lot of thinning out when they get a little larger and the "stronger" plants start showing. All this depends on if we EVER GET ANY SUMMER.... as of july 25 have about 10 tiny hardshells, need more heat  Aug 22.......pretty poor gord harvest so far
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