20 years or so ago we had a row of hemlocks growing in our back yard. they were only about 12 -15 feet tall and they were afflicted with some hemlock blight. The trees were over grown with bittersweet and they formed a screen between our yard and the neighbors' My wife had bought a package of gourd seeds, thinking they were something els and she 'threw them away' into the hemlock line. The trees were covered in bittersweet and no one even looked at them, but that fall when the vines died off, the trees showed dozens of gourds all different colors and sizes. Plant some seeds and wait for the end of summer. If you grow them intentionally you can shape them by lightly pressing them as they grow.