- Botanical name: Rheum x hybridum 'Raspberry Red'
- Common name: Rhubarb
- Family: Polygonaceae
- Plant Type: Vegetable
Pink
Green
- Key features:
- Prefers rich soil
While technically a vegetable, rhubarb is considered by many to be a fruit, owing to its sweet flavour and use in desserts. For first-time vegetable growers, rhubarb is the perfect choice. Perennial, it flourishes without too much attention, bearing delicious stalks to stew and eat with porridge at breakfast, or to use as an ingredient in crumbles and tarts. Rhubarb is ready to harvest in early spring, when little else is available, making it one of the most prized crops in the vegetable garden.
Rheum x hybridum ‘Raspberry Red’ is an reactively new variety, producing deep red thick stalks early in the season – so there’s no need to force them. Stems have a particularly sweet flavour.
Plant rhubarb crowns from autumn to spring in a sunny spot in well drained soil. Prepare the soil well by digging in plenty of well rotted manure and remove all weeds. When planting crowns, ensure the top of the crown sits 3cm below soil level, and space them at 75cm intervals. Keep plants well-watered in their first year and mulch annually with home-made compost or well-rotted manure.
How to grow Rheum 'Raspberry Red'
-
Plant size
1.4m height
1.4m spread
-
Aspect
South facing, east facing, west facing
-
Position in border
Front, middle
- Sun exposure: Dappled shade, full sun, partial shade
- Hardiness: Hardy
- Soil type: Clay / heavy / moist / well drained / light / sandy
Plant calendar
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plant | ||||||||||||
| Plant |
J
Do not Plant in January |
F
Do not Plant in February |
M
Do Plant in March |
A
Do Plant in April |
M
Do not Plant in May |
J
Do not Plant in June |
J
Do not Plant in July |
A
Do not Plant in August |
S
Do Plant in September |
O
Do Plant in October |
N
Do not Plant in November |
D
Do not Plant in December |
| Divide | ||||||||||||
| Divide |
J
Do not Divide in January |
F
Do not Divide in February |
M
Do Divide in March |
A
Do not Divide in April |
M
Do not Divide in May |
J
Do not Divide in June |
J
Do not Divide in July |
A
Do not Divide in August |
S
Do Divide in September |
O
Do Divide in October |
N
Do Divide in November |
D
Do Divide in December |
| Harvest | ||||||||||||
| Harvest |
J
Do not Harvest in January |
F
Do not Harvest in February |
M
Do Harvest in March |
A
Do Harvest in April |
M
Do Harvest in May |
J
Do not Harvest in June |
J
Do not Harvest in July |
A
Do not Harvest in August |
S
Do not Harvest in September |
O
Do not Harvest in October |
N
Do not Harvest in November |
D
Do not Harvest in December |
Rheum 'Raspberry Red' and wildlife
Rheum 'Raspberry Red' has no particular known value to wildlife in the UK.
Is Rheum 'Raspberry Red' poisonous?
Rheum 'Raspberry Red' can be toxic. Its foliage are toxic.
Toxic to Cats
Toxic to Dogs
Toxic to Horses
Toxic to People
No reported toxicity to Birds
No reported toxicity to Livestock
