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New Brunswick

I planted a perennial swiss chard last year and the old dead foliage is still covering the row. Do I leave it for the new plants to grow up through or remove the old rotten leaves and plants? I was wondering about pulling the old stuff up by the roots...We still will probably have frost for some time yet

4/27/2005 10:44:26 PM

Menomonie, WI (mail@gr8pumpkin.net)

HMMM I have never heard of a "perennial" swiss chard. I know in warm enough climates it will go dormant and return the following year to seed. My Guess is if it got below 20°F. Your swiss chard was frozen and is dead.

4/28/2005 2:29:59 PM

New Brunswick

It shouldn't freeze out as I bought the seed from Vesseys, here in the Maritimes. Actually, it is a biennial....not a perennial. So does that mean it returns the second year and never again...or does that growth reseed itself? I am confused as to the difference between biennial and perennial. The name of it is Perpetual. Oh yeah...it goes way below 20deg. F. In fact, 20 below zero happens frequently.

4/29/2005 6:34:10 PM

Menomonie, WI (mail@gr8pumpkin.net)

I bet you it froze solid....if you hit twenty below. Everything with out a good mulch or snow cover freezes solid.

4/29/2005 9:09:15 PM

Menomonie, WI (mail@gr8pumpkin.net)

The reason they sell it is because as a biennial. Being such it does not bolt and go to seed like the annual swiss chards.

4/29/2005 9:12:13 PM