Décor Swiss Chard for Fall

Swiss Chard ‘Bright Lights Mix’

Swiss chard is one of the prettiest cool weather vegetables you’ll find. It tastes mild and sweet but you’ll want to grow it just for the décor value. This leafy green comes in a rainbow of stem colors—‘Bright Yellow’ proved to be very popular so we’ve added a few more varieties to our collection.

Swiss Chard ‘Bright Yellow’

Notice the intensity of the tall neon stalks against the glossy green leaves—the stems appear to be glowing. We like the crinkly texture of the foliage, too. Reaching up to 2 feet tall, this is a great plant for adding vertical interest to autumn landscape beds and containers. As we’ve mentioned before, it’s a vegetable that would also look nice growing in the front yard.

Swiss Chard ‘Magenta Sunset’

When designing with Swiss chard, be sure to place it where the stems will be seen, perhaps at the edge of a border. We like to combine several colors for the best effect—they all work well together. Adding some low growing pansies or other flowering plants in matching shades will pick up the yellow, red, or orange in the stems.

Swiss Chard ‘Oriole Orange’

Swiss chard is very easy to grow in full sun. It’s tough, performing well even in the face of poor soil or neglect. Cool temperatures are best but these plants can tolerate some heat; they’ll also last through some frosts, until temperatures dip into the mid 20s. Our ornamental Swiss chard endured through several hard frosts last year, until the heavy snow eventually suffocated it.

Swiss Chard ‘Peppermint’

In the kitchen, prepare Swiss chard as you would spinach or beet greens. Younger leaves are better for salads and more mature leaves are tasty sautéed or steamed. Dinner will be extra festive with a plateful of these colorful, healthy greens.

Swiss Chard ‘Red Rhubarb’

All of our Swiss chard selections are available in the versatile 6-inch pot:

• ‘Bright Yellow’—banana yellow stems and veins; dark green leaves
• ‘Bright Lights Mix’—stems of gold, pink, and crimson red; mixture of burgundy and green leaves
• ‘Magenta Sunset’—compact selection with brilliant magenta-colored stems and veins; medium green leaves
• ‘Oriole Orange’—golden orange stems and veins; dark green leaves
• ‘Peppermint’—white stems have hot pink stripes; dark green leaves have white veins
• ‘Rhubarb Red’—dramatic red stems with pale green leaves; one of the shorter chards at 16 inches; named for its color, not to be confused with rhubarb itself

For the vegetable garden, ‘Bright Lights Mix’ also comes in the 4.5-inch pot. If you’re primarily interested in ornamental value, the following varieties are available in the 8-inch size: ‘Bright Lights Mix’, ‘Bright Yellow’, and ‘Rhubarb Red’.