Thanks all. I tried letting them stay on the plant and even when they got fully ripe and fell off they were still green. One thing is obvious from looking at these plants -- they are different cultivars. Some have different shape leaves and the 'husk' on some is long and pointy and on others short and round. I will order some seeds from Gourmet Seeds and also from Seed Savers - try my luck next year! :-(( DL

Here's an additional pic of the whole plant. I'm in Central FL on the east coast. I came across the Okinawan spinach when I was searching on my own. The leaf coloring is spot on but I don't think that's it. My plant is definitely more of an upright shrub than a groundcover as the spinach is described. And I found a few pics of the spinach flowers and they're completely different.

I am new to gardening, but have a background in turf. I planted 3 twist and shout hydrangeas this spring and they are doing somewhat well, I just noticed that some on the leaves are fading to purple from the middle of the leaf to the end. It's not everywhere, just some here and there. I also noticed that this is happing on stems that are beginning to produce flowers. Also inside the plant some leaves are turning yellow-white (the vein also) and will fall off to the touch. This is happening to my Tardiva's and my limelight as well. Is this normal. I have noticed that jap beetles or some incsect have been chewing on the leaves last week, but I sprayed imidacloprid and cyfluthrin twice, 7 days apart. They get late morning sun to filterd evening sun. Any help would be greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance.

Telling us where you are would help. It doesn't look at all like the plant I know as desert willow,Chilopsis linearis, which has larger leaves that aren't as fleshy as well as larger flowers. Does the bruised foliage have a scent? It looks to me like rosemary, but since that isn't hardy here, I never see it blooming, so I can't be sure.