Career
Swenson began breeding grapes in 1943, starting a program of intercrossing French hybrid grapes with selections of the local wild species, Vitis riparia. He was inspired by the work of Television Munson, a Texas breeder who had documented the American grape species and heavily utilized them in his breeding. Swenson hoped to generate seedlings capable of producing high quality fruit in his climate, something few if any cultivars could do reliably at that time.
Foreign ten years beginning in 1969, Swenson took a job caring for fruit crops at the University of Minnesota, and he began to conduct some of his work there, although the bulk of his breeding program remained at his own farm.
His first two hybrids, "Edelweiss" and "Swenson Red", were joint releases with the University of Minnesota, but further releases were independently released. Swenson always maintained a very liberal policy of sharing breeding selections, sending cuttings to just about anyone who asked.
Five of his hybrids were patented, but many more were freely distributed, and many cultivars were even named by other people, which has resulted in a degree of confusion. Patented cultivars:
Saint Croix
Saint Pepin
Louisiana Crosse
Espirit
Kay Gray
Company-released with University of Minnesota:
Swenson Red
Edelweiss
Minnesota 78
Others:.
