𝐏𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐣𝐞𝐜𝐭 (𝐵𝑒𝑡𝑎 𝑣𝑢𝑙𝑔𝑎𝑟𝑖𝑠):

 

𝐏𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐣𝐞𝐜𝐭 (𝐵𝑒𝑡𝑎 𝑣𝑢𝑙𝑔𝑎𝑟𝑖𝑠):
I began this project about ten years ago.
It began with the composition and selection of the line ‘Joran’s Naturalizable’ chard (𝑠𝑢𝑏𝑠𝑝. 𝑐𝑖𝑐𝑙𝑎), which began in 2014, when I began breeding a commercial cultivar of chard with broad white petioles.
It was very carefully selected for its drought resistance and its ability to naturalize without any watering on a bare earth slope, exposed to full sun.

In 2018, I discovered chard of similar phenotype, naturalized in a former garden that had become a dense, tall meadow over the past decade.

These two populations, having managed to naturalize in extremely different environments, were mixed and formed the ‘Joran’s Naturalizable’ population.

In 2018, I also acquired two wild chard accessions:

• 𝐵𝑒𝑡𝑎 𝑣𝑢𝑙𝑔𝑎𝑟𝑖𝑠 𝑠𝑢𝑏𝑠𝑝. 𝑚𝑎𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑢𝑠: an accession collected in North Yorkshire, England; by Nigel Dodd, owner of the English nursery Kykeon.

• 𝐵. 𝑣𝑢𝑙𝑔𝑎𝑟𝑖𝑠 𝑠𝑠𝑝.:
  Accession collected in Greece and obtained through a seed exchange.

After several years of cultivation and observation, these two accessions were very different:
The English maritime wild chard had slightly wider petioles (up to 5 mm wide) with a D-shaped cross-section. They were greenish-white with reddish-purple streaks (a color related to the presence of betalain), similar to the stems.
Some signs could suggest introgressions of chard (𝑠𝑢𝑏𝑠𝑝. 𝑐𝑖𝑐𝑙𝑎) into this accession.
These plants had a short life cycle (2-3 years).
A selection process was carried out to reduce the presence of betalains. They have now disappeared from the petioles and are now found only in the stems.

Wild Greek chard is very different.
This is probably an accession of 𝐵𝑒𝑡𝑎 𝑣𝑢𝑙𝑔𝑎𝑟𝑖𝑠 𝑠𝑢𝑏𝑠𝑝. 𝑎𝑑𝑎𝑛𝑒𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑠 rather than the 𝑚𝑎𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑢𝑠 subspecies.
These plants have a pronounced perennial life cycle, and the foliage and stems are perfectly green (they show no traces of betalain), which is rare within the 𝑚𝑎𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑢𝑠 subspecies.

Its glomeruli, in particular, have a different appearance from those of the usual 𝐵𝑒𝑡𝑎 𝑣𝑢𝑙𝑔𝑎𝑟𝑖𝑠 broadly speaking (subspecies 𝑣𝑢𝑙𝑔𝑎𝑟𝑖𝑠, 𝑐𝑖𝑐𝑙𝑎, or 𝑚𝑎𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑢𝑠), and are more similar to those of 𝐵𝑒𝑡𝑎 𝑡𝑟𝑖𝑔𝑦𝑛𝑎.

However, its affiliation with this species is invalidated due to its green flowers with yellow stamens, specific to 𝐵𝑒𝑡𝑎 𝑣𝑢𝑙𝑔𝑎𝑟𝑖𝑠, and its perfect interfertility with the latter.
But unfortunately, I haven’t found an identification key for the 𝑎𝑑𝑎𝑛𝑒𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑠 subspecies to confirm this theory.

𝐵. 𝑣𝑢𝑙𝑔𝑎𝑟𝑖𝑠 are self-incompatible and anemogamous hermaphroditic plants.
So, in 2021, in the middle of a large population of ‘Joran’s Naturalizable’, one plant from each of the wild accessions was planted.

In 2022, the two resulting F1 lines were bred separately.
Here F1 hybrids with english wild chard:

This lineage, like its wild parental lineage, exhibits an atypical distribution of betalains (stems striated with red and white petioles).

Here some hybrids with the Greek wild chard:

In 2023, I grew 200 plants from the population ‘Gnarly Long Lived Beet Leaf Mix’, a strain developed by Andrew Telsing.
The plants proved susceptible to drought and disease, and 99% exhibited biennial behavior. They were not used.

I also collected two wild accessions from islands along the Atlantic coast of France (Vendée Department):

• Yeu Island

• Noirmoutier Island

However, after cultivation, they were of little interest compared to the previous two, as they had short life cycles (2-3 years) and thin, almost cylindrical petioles with reddish-purple striations. Therefore, they were not used.

In 2024, I continued to keep these two lines separate and created two breeding populations: composed of F2s, F1s, and one individual from their wild parental line, which will serve primarily as a female for backcrossing.

These hybrids, in particular those with wild Greek chard, exhibit a perennial life cycle:

This autumn 2025, I sowed seeds from the green population (a hybrid with Greek wild chard), and I had the immense pleasure of discovering this:

These are hybrids between the two lines!
And they express a completely new type of betalain distribution!!

I found 16 of them!

Of the 16 plants found, half had turned completely green by March.

These were removed.

Among the 8 plants expressing betalains with no correlation to temperature, 3 had slightly pinkish stalks.

These were removed.

Five remain, two of which are particularly promising.

A perennial line with such attractive and innovative foliage??

I never dreamed of something so good!