I have a south-facing raised area at the bottom of the garden where I dumped
the soil dug out of a massive pond. Until now I have used it to grow nettles
and Buddleja for the butterflies. It also hides the compost heaps.
I planted a couple of butternut squash plants there in May that I had raised
in the greenhouse. I'd never grown them before, so didn't know what to
expect.

After a couple of weeks they looked really sick and I decided to write them
off.

In July something suddenly appeared growing half-way up a Harlequin
Buddleja. It was one of the squash plants gone mad! It spread across an area
about 10ft square, climbed the fence and up into the buddleja. Now it has
seventeen squashes in various stages of growth with three full size and just
beginning to ripen.
Is this typical, or is it a fluke result of the fantastic summer we've had?