When you ask about swiss chard perennial annual status, the answer is neither of those two options. Swiss chard is a biennial plant that grows leaves in year one and flowers in year two before it dies. Most gardeners treat it as an annual and pull it out after one season of harvesting their tasty greens.
The swiss chard life cycle threw me off when I first started growing this leafy green in my garden about five years ago. I left a few plants in the ground over winter to see what would happen to them the next spring. They came back but spent all their energy making tall flower stalks instead of the big tasty leaves I wanted to eat for my dinners.
Biennial swiss chard follows a two-year pattern that nature programs into the plant from the very start. During year one your plant puts all its energy into growing a strong root system and lots of leaves for you to harvest and enjoy. Your plant stores energy in its roots through cold winter months while the tops die back to the ground.
Year two brings a big change as your plant wakes up from winter with one goal in mind. It wants to flower and make seeds to pass on its genes to the next generation of plants in your garden. The leaves that grow in this second year tend to be smaller and taste more bitter than what you got the year before from that same plant.
Research from University of Minnesota confirms that your Swiss chard needs cold to flower. This cold period tells your plant to switch from making leaves to making seeds. You can keep your plants making leaves by pulling them before winter hits your garden each year.
I now treat all my Swiss chard as annual crops even though the plants can live for two full years if I let them stay in the ground. Pulling your plants out at the end of year one gives you space to start fresh with new seeds the next spring. Young plants from new seeds always give you better tasting leaves than old plants trying to make flowers.
My neighbor tried to save money by keeping her chard plants over winter last year. The plants survived just fine but the leaves she got in spring were tough and bitter beyond anything she could eat. She ended up pulling all of them out and starting fresh with new seeds like I told her to do from the start.
In mild climates where winter temps stay above 25 degrees F (-4 degrees C), your Swiss chard may survive the cold months just fine. When this happens your plants will bolt and send up flower stalks as soon as days get long enough in spring. Your leaves turn tough and bitter once bolting starts so you should pull these plants right away.
You can get the most food from your Swiss chard by treating it as an annual and picking the outer leaves all season long from spring through fall. Start new plants each spring and keep picking until frost kills them or they try to bolt in late summer heat. This gives you months of fresh greens from plants that cost just pennies to grow from seed packets at your local garden store.
The biennial nature of your Swiss chard makes it a reliable producer for first year harvests in your garden beds. Replace your plants each spring with fresh seeds and you get tender leaves all summer long. You avoid the bitter taste that comes when your plants shift into their flowering stage this way.
Read the full article: How to Grow Swiss Chard Successfully
