Garden rhubarb – Rheum rhabarbarum

Rhubarb anchors itself with a large, fleshy root and comes back every spring. Its long, fleshy stalks, red or green, are harvested. Its broad, wavy leaves are very decorative, but they are not edible.

• Botanical name: Rheum rhabarbarum
• Hardiness: very hardy, down to −25 °C
• Edible part: the stalks, red or green; the leaves are toxic
• Harvest: in spring and early summer
• Uses: tarts, jams, compotes
• Flowering: clusters of white flowers on a stem 1.5 to 2 m tall

In the garden

Rich, deep soil, in sun or partial shade. Water well in the first year and mulch generously. Cut off the flower stems: the plant then keeps its energy for the stalks.

The plant you receive

Bare-root or with a root ball depending on the season.

A farm-grown plant raised outdoors at 1,000 m altitude in the Livradois-Forez Regional Nature Park: never in a heated greenhouse, fed with organic fertiliser only and grown following permaculture principles.