Swiss chard 'Bright Lights'

‘Bright Lights’ chard is a vegetable grown for looks. The stems and leaf ribs come up red, pink, gold, orange, and white under big glossy leaves, and Clemson calls it the vertical element in a container of lower flowers like pansies. That is exactly how to use it: one or three stalks of color in the center of a fall pot. It is also edible, which delights some people and does not matter to the rest.

In the Upstate

Chard goes in with the fall planting in October and gives its best color in the cool of fall and spring. NC State rates it for zones 2 to 11 and says it grows fastest in cool weather but keeps producing leaves through summer, tolerating some heat, humidity, and drought. It is a biennial, so it does not bolt in its first year. In a planter, run it fall to spring and swap it out when the summer plants go in, because by June the leaves are coarse and the pot wants something else.

In a container

Chard is the height in a cool-season pot, 12 to 24 inches tall. NC State says it grows well in containers with at least 2 quarts of soil and 8 inches of depth, so a normal planter is plenty. Set it in the center with pansies, violas, and dusty miller around the base. Keep the soil evenly moist, since it simply stops growing when it dries out. Pull the oldest outside leaves as they fade and new ones keep coming from the center.

Care

Water steadily, feed with a balanced fertilizer at planting, and harvest or remove the outer leaves first. NC State reports no significant pests or diseases. The thing that ruins chard in a pot is drought: it does not die quickly, it just sits there, and the stems lose their shine. If you eat it, Clemson says leaves are ready when they reach 4 to 12 inches, cut one at a time.