πππ«ππ§π§π’ππ₯ ππ‘ππ«π ππ«π¨π£πππ (π΅ππ‘π π£π’ππππππ ):
I began this project about ten years ago.
It began with the composition and selection of the line βJoranβs Naturalizableβ chard (π π’ππ π. πππππ), 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 βJoranβs Naturalizableβ population.
In 2018, I also acquired two wild chard accessions:
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π΅ππ‘π π£π’ππππππ π π’ππ π. πππππ‘πππ’π : an accession collected in North Yorkshire, England; by Nigel Dodd, owner of the English nursery Kykeon.
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π΅. π£π’ππππππ π π π.:
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 (π π’ππ π. πππππ) 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 π΅ππ‘π π£π’ππππππ π π’ππ π. πππππππ ππ rather than the πππππ‘πππ’π 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 πππππ‘πππ’π subspecies.
Its glomeruli, in particular, have a different appearance from those of the usual π΅ππ‘π π£π’ππππππ broadly speaking (subspecies π£π’ππππππ , πππππ, or πππππ‘πππ’π ), and are more similar to those of π΅ππ‘π π‘ππππ¦ππ.
However, its affiliation with this species is invalidated due to its green flowers with yellow stamens, specific to π΅ππ‘π π£π’ππππππ , and its perfect interfertility with the latter.
But unfortunately, I havenβt found an identification key for the πππππππ ππ subspecies to confirm this theory.
π΅. π£π’ππππππ are self-incompatible and anemogamous hermaphroditic plants.
So, in 2021, in the middle of a large population of βJoranβs Naturalizableβ, 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 (red stem, but white petioles).
Here some hybrids with the Greek wild chard:
In 2023, I grew 200 plants from the population βGnarly Long Lived Beet Leaf Mixβ, 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 (VendΓ©e 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!
A perennial line with such attractive and innovative foliage??
I never dreamed of something so good!
