By Chinese Silk Squash, could you possibly mean edible Luffa? Some also calls it Sponge Gourd. Is it the kind that turns into a luffa if dried on the plant? If Luffa gourd is what you're referring to, I've been planting them. I sow them in small pots now and transplant in late spring in zone 8. You can direct sow them too. They usually have a slower start during cool spring, so you'll have plenty of time to put up the support. I don't use special fertilization other than what's normal for any veggie (compost at planting and side dressing after a few leaves shown) unless your soil is really off. You'll gonna love home grown Luffa. They're so tender they dislike anything from the stores. Here is a link that might be useful: Edible Luffa?

Thanks for hte input. I found a website listing commercially produced cultivars of Aglaonema and didn't see one that looked like this, so that was what I found puzzling. It's like nobody has ever heard or seen this plant before except that one other person who posted the photos. When I look at the leaves on this one and compare them to the Emerald Beauty Aglaonema I have, they do have a very similar shape, although the NOID plant's leaves are bigger and have thicker substance to them. The main reason I want to know what it is, is just so I can know for sure how to care for it. :)

Hi and thanks for the replies! Like both of you, I normally wouldn't consider WSing beans, either. In this case, I'm just impatient and want to hurry them along. So, 20 seeds've been sown and I'm hoping for freaky-good luck with them but, if not, I've got plenty more to plant in late May. With the exception of only a very few days now & again it's been cold here since mid-October and I'm beginning to suspect it may never warm up. Monday evening it began to rain and didn't quit until about 9:00pm last night with temps in the mid-30s. Right now it's dreary and a pitiful 43°. More rain is forecast for tomorrow through Friday with the possibility of severe weather (tornadoes) with a bonus prize of it maybe turning to snow late Friday night! Oh boy oh boy oh boy. On the upside, though, the temps aren't forecast to be any lower than 30°, so my sweet little dogwood tree will, with any luck, be safe for at least another week. Last year he was just ready to bloom when we had a vicious freeze and only a dozen or so blossoms survived. Poor little fella.

I think I must have purple perilla. I really don't want it to self sow in my flower bed if it is so invasive. If I plant it in a pot on my porch next to the flower bed, will this still cause it to self seed in the flower bed? I'm not sure how self seeding works. Are there seeds on the plant that will fall or blow into my flower bed or does the self seeding come from the roots? Just wondering if it will be able to get into my beds if placed in a pot right next to the bed.