Pronounciation: BAY-ta vul-GAR-is variety SIC-la

Hardiness zones
Sunset All zones, seasonal cultivation depends on climate.
USDA All zones, seasonal cultivation depends on climate.

Landscape Use: Edible vegetable gardens, edible herbaceous mixed border planting, entry way plantings, landscape gardens, mass color.

Form & Character: Upright, leafy, colorful, brittle and crinkly, spreading, fertile.

Growth Habit: Herbaceous biennial (living across two growing seasons such as winter and spring in Phoenix) or a short-lived perennial depending on growing location. Large lustrous leaves with sturdy petioles, elongated, emerging from short stems at near ground level are upright. Mature plants to 2-feet tall.

Foliage/Texture: Crinkly, often colorful, large entire leaves with a somewhat deltoid shape, 1- to 2-feet long including an elongated, flattened, angular petiole, petiole often brightly colored white, orange or red. Swiss chard leaves look like colorful, crinkled 'spinach leaves on steroids'; coarse texture.

Flowers & Fruits: Insignificant ornamental green flowers clustered on tall spikes; fruits are small, brown, roughened and dry. Fruit produce seed that will readily germinate under moist garden conditions during fall.

Seasonal Color: Colorful leaves during Phoenix cool season (November to April).

Temperature: Swiss chard is intolerant of air temperatures above 105^oF, but thrives during Phoenix winters.

Light: Full sun

Soil: Well-drained moist and fertile garden soil with a high organic matter content is best. Applications of an organic fertilizer during fall and winter will greatly encourage yummy leafy, succulent growth during winter.

Watering: Provide regular water to maintain vigor.

Pruning: Remove recently mature young leaves plus petiole stalks at stem base for food. Remove older leaves to enance plant appearance and vigor. Allow swiss chard plants to produce flower and seed heads during spring and early summer.

Propagation: Very easy to propagate by seed. Plants are self fertile. If your garden plants are allowed to set seed in late spring (in Phoenix that means it's aleady over 100^oF during the day), then you can either collect and store the seed for the following fall, or allow the seed to fall to the ground and they will germinate in place during the next fall.

Disease and Pests: Curly top virus and nematodes can be problematic, as can those demon rabbits. Insects are generally not a problem, but aphids, leafminers, cabbage worm, flea beetles have been rarely reported as pests.

Additional comments: Swiss chard has been cultivated as a food crop since about 400 BC. Swiss chard was first brought to United States gardeners from Europe in 1857. Today, it's a definite must for any Phoenix landscape edible winter garden. Swiss chard, once established, will reseed itself yearly if allowed to flower and fruit in late spring and summer. As such, it will establish a "colony" like structure and appearance in one's garden. There are many varietal selections each having different secondary pigments (different colors) in their leaf blades and petioles.

Culinary perspectives In Phoenix, Swiss chard leaves are most tasty to harvest for cooking from November to March. Harvest the entire leaf, both blade and colorful leaf stalk. As a leafy green vegetable, swiss chard is quite high in vitamin A, vitamin C, iron, and magnesium. Leaves (including elongated and colorful petioles) make a wonderful, healthy side dish when cooked in olive oil or steamed. In warmer weather, Swiss chard leaves become bitter tasting. Here's one Swiss chard recipe.

Biomedical note: Swiss chard extracts have been shown to reduce blood glucose levels by regeneration of the B cells (Journal of Ethnopharmacology 73:251-259). Swiss chard has also been shown to reverse effects of diabetes by helping to normalize blood glucose and tissue lipid peroxidation and glutathione levels (Journal of Medicinal Food 5:37-42).