While most people plant Swiss Chard in their gardens to eat all spring. I plant it for its amazingly vibrant color. I love its bright burst of hot pink, orange, red, or yellow in the garden. And even though I don’t personally like the flavor of the leaves, they taste like a mix of spinach and celery, they really come in handy in flower arrangements and look amazing in planting beds. I especially like the leaves on their own in a simple glass vase, and the foliage is so beautiful with the crinkled deep green leaves threaded with neon color it always adds interesting variety into a more complex arrangement.
The plant in my pictures is actually two years old, and has over wintered really well in South Carolina. We only get a few small storms and our plants are well protected, and it’s been coming back each spring with a frenzy. It’s in a bed full of perennials and herbs, the only treatment that I use on these plants is Neem Oil, which helps keep the mites and aphids in check.
Swiss Chard likes to be planted as soon as the ground can be worked in the spring and won’t be bothered by a few mild frosts, it’s best to plant it in partial shade so the ground stays well watered, to keep the plants from getting bitter. The leaves can start to be harvested in as early as four to six weeks from the planting date and it’s best to harvest small delicate leaves. These have a nicer cleaner flavor. As the weather cools the leaves taste their best. Swiss Chard likes to be planted as soon as the ground can be worked in the spring and won’t be bothered by a few mild frosts, it’s best to plant it in partial shade so the ground stays well watered, to keep the plants from getting bitter. The leaves can start to be harvested in as early as four to six weeks from the planting date and it’s best to harvest small delicate leaves. These have a nicer cleaner flavor. As the weather cools the leaves taste their best.
The Painted Rabbit 