Days to Maturity: 60 from direct sow

All-America Selections (AAS) Winner 1998

Garden Merit Award from the Royal Horticulture Society

These brilliantly-colored stems are so beautiful that you may forget to harvest the succulent, sweet leaves. Electric yellows, pinks, crimsons, oranges, purples, whites, and greens—some even striped—festoon the 20-inch stems. Many keep their color even after cooking, and all are delightfully festive.

Bright Lights is a mix of green- and black-leaved Swiss Chard in all brilliant colors, including stripes, streaks, and bicolors. It's utterly eye-catching in garden or container, which is one reason it has received both an All-America Selection and an Award of Garden Merit from the Royal Horticulture Society. The other reason is flavor—these stems keep their colors even after light cooking, and have a rich, crisp, peppery bite. The star of the cool-season veggie garden.

Great in containers and showy enough for the flower garden, Bright Lights is a classic asked for by name in nurseries and garden centers. Like all Swiss chard, it grows readily from seed, and will regrow if leaves are cut back to 2 inches from the crown. Both leaves and stems are delicious.