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Position

Sun Exposure:
Dappled shade, full sun, partial shade
Aspect:
East facing, south facing, west facing
Position in Border:
Front, middle

Soil

Prefers rich soil:
Clay / Heavy / Moist / Well Drained / Light / Sandy

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.

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Plant calendar

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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 is toxic.

Toxic to:
Is known to attract Cats
Cats
Is known to attract Dogs
Dogs
Is known to attract Horses
Horses
Is known to attract People
People
No reported toxicity to:
Is not known to attract Birds
Birds
Is not known to attract Livestock
Livestock
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