When chard bolts there are often small clusters of leaves up the stems. This is a common phenomenon in my garden. Perhaps you have always pulled out your chard in the past before it has time to show this habit? The flower stems reach four or five feet or more if left alone. The scent of the blooms is very sweet.

Hmmm, interesting. It hasn't shown any other signs of bolting (the sudden tall shoots.Not a good description, but......)

Of course we had a very strange year last year weather wise. From drought to double the normal rainfall, to triple didget temps for a lot of the summer! Also being in a new part of town, new soil, new conditions etc.... Nancy

I forgot to ask if I can replant these "babies"? Nancy

When I lived in San Diego, my chard would over-winter & survived for several years. It would form a thick "trunk", but no flower stalk. That "trunk" would develop dozens of sprouts when the weather warmed; I always cut it back & thinned the sprouts to the 2-3 strongest, to encourage larger leaves. I suspect that it might have resembled what you describe, Nancyjane, had I let it grow untouched. Eventually I decided that I liked the large first-year growth of chard better, and grew it as an annual only... which is what I do now, not that I have a choice in my present climate. ;-)

The 'vine type'' stem will be a potential flower stem imo. If they have been constantly harvested chard plants sometimes don't make a single flower stem but many thinner ones. I've never replanted the offshoots. I find that self sowing produces a constant supply of chard without needing to find other ways. Why not do the experiment and get back to us?