Rhubarb Bed

5 September 2025

We are creating a rhubarb bed, starting at one end of raised bed K. Our garden has lots of apple trees that will mature with fruit over the next couple of years. Since rhubarb also takes a couple of years to mature, we can look forward to sharing yummy recipes for apple & rhubarb pie, apple & rhubarb crumble and so on. Rhubarb is tart in flavor so it needs lots of sugar adding.

Anyone with Diabetes and a need to control their sugar intake might find this plant to be not suitable.

Which part of the rhubarb plant is edible? It's the long stems, which may be red or green.

DO NOT eat the leaves or the roots - they are poisonous. It is the stems that are edible.

first planting 5 sep 25

Down the garden very early in the morning to get the job done before the rain hits, here you can see the first four plants.

The pedigree is likely the common or standard Rhubarb Victoria - Rhuem x hybridum - which produces large red stems perfect for boiling and adding to pies.

rhubarb seeds

5 SEP 25

You can grow rhubarb from seed. The seeds are relatively large and flaky in shape and they'll take a couple of years to mature.

Here is the first set of seeds planted in our greenhouse, covered with glass for warmth as there will still be cold days in the next few weeks.

our seed source

For the three sets of seeds, we ordered them from https://www.frenchharvest.com.au/ based over east in VIC

The varieties that we selected are detailed below. (Note: the text is from the French Harvest web site)

SOUTHERN RUBY RED

Southern Ruby Red

Red rhubarb seed

Rheum x hybridum

Although this medium size perennial heritage rhubarb has been grown extensively in South Australia for many years, it was tightly held by the growers and never distributed outside the State in commercial amounts. It is now available to all growers and is especially suitable for smaller gardens.

FRENCH HARVEST

French Harvest

Red rhubarb seed

Rheum x hybridum

French Harvest collects seed from its extensive rhubarb trial fields which are open-pollinated with over 50 different superb non-deciduous red commercial clones grown in close proximity. It germinates well, and if sown in the spring, can be ready to pick in only 6 months. Approximately 90% of the plants will be red, with a good percentage of stunning red clones.

russian giant

Russian Giant

Red rhubarb seed

Rheum x hybridum

This rhubarb is an unusual, large growing, winter dormant, type. Extremely vigorous, picks easily, and is good eating. Grows incredibly fast from seed and can be picked 6 months from sowing. Leaves are pubescent in the spring. Not suitable for growing in pots once established.

The Mother plants were found growing in an old garden in the Dandenong Ranges, Victoria, Australia. In the 1920s-1930s the Dandenong Ranges was the home to many notable gardens and world renowned, famous and wealthy plant collectors. I have seen the same, or similar, type of Rheum growing in Russian Villages around the White Sea area. The garden owners had no idea of the English name of this plant.

In cultivation it seldom, if ever goes to seed, hence its high price. Only sow in spring as it is winter dormant. Don't pick the last stalks in autumn (fall) to enable it to put some energy back into the roots to get it through the winter.

Rhubarb prefers soil that is slightly acidic, with a pH between 5.5 to 7.0. In our garden our soil, as measured with a pH meter, ranges from 6.8 to 7.0, which is within the range, but we'll look at reducing the pH a little.

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