Plant of the Week!

This week's plant is not only an ornamental, but it's also edible. Swiss chard (Beta vulgaris subsp. cicla) will produce fresh white, orange, yellow, pink, or red leaf stalks making it a colorful addition to the vegetable garden, as well as to the landscape. Think about trying swiss chard as an edging plant for the landscape or mixing it in with your common annuals in containers. The bright petioles are a great colorful addition!

Swiss chard is actually a beet variety that has been chosen for leaf production at the expense of storage root formation. Chard can be easily directly seeded into the garden, landscape, or into containers in early spring to mid-spring or in the late summer if a fall crop is desired. I planted the 'Bright Lights' swiss chard in my garden this spring and it is still going strong. I've been able to get many harvests from it and it continues to have regrowth.

Swiss chard grows best in full sun, like many of its vegetable counterparts. Few problems are associated with swiss chard as well, aside from a few pests that like to chew on the foliage.

Learn more about swiss chard and how to cook it here: http://urbanext.illinois.edu/veggies/chard.cfm