thats interesting... i bought one early summer (zone 6 here). I dug a nice deep hole, filled with compost and good dirt. It was hot out when i planted. It threw up a few leaves.. then started to rot. The plant was done in a weeks time.

Are your plants dieing from the leaf down.. or leaf and stem at the same time?

I think it is the whole leaf/stem at a time. I'm fairly certain it isn't rot since the area is gravel-y and has good drainage. I put in compost as well, so it can't be lack of nutrients. The only thing I can think of is that this guy likes it SUPER cool and moist and where I have it doesn't fit that requirement. Very interesting that yours had such problems as well. Any chance the roots are still viable?? Or is it completely rotted?
CMK

I bought one this summer for the first time. It had two leaves. With time it grew a couple more and a couple shrivelled and died so I am now back to two leaves. It seems fine but was bought in the heat of summer. I have it 15 feet from "normal" rhubarb that thrives so I hope it is in a good place. It averages over 10 hours sun per day in the summer.

Thanks punman. I do feel a little relief knowing others have had similar experiences! I know my ornamental rhubarb is native to cool regions of Asia, so maybe it our summer heat getting to it. Hopefully both of ours will eventually do good where they are planted!
CMK

I have the same ornamental rhubarb (for years) and mine has never been as robust as the culinary type. However it doesn't die out in the summer but goes through to fall. MIne haven't yellowed yet.

But we all know that for the first year, the same rules don't apply.

-gottagarden, thanks so much for input. Do you have yours in full shade? Is it in a full shade area?
CMK

After the leaves died down.. i could tell the crown was mushy. I pulled the whole plant and it was rotten completely. I dug a 3 foot hole when i planted it (read in a article they like to send deep roots)... so mine too couldn't have rotted from standing water.

I was thinking if it was just the heat that it wouldn't have been thriving at the nursery i bought it from. I am now thinking that the compost i placed it in was just too "fresh". I read in a book that some get a rot from some fungus. Going to try and hunt down seeds next year and give it another try.

Mine are in full sun, I'm pretty sure they prefer sun but will be okay with some shade. Full shade would probably have them fade away . . .

Not sure if anyone is at all intersted in the outcome but...it lived!!! I am thrilled. I looked out last week and there was nothing, looked again yesterday and pink buds are welling up!

I actually DID end up moving the plant to the wine barrel planter behind the shed, where it is shady and cool. The last leaf died off soon after, but I decided to let it be and see if it would retun in fall or spring. So pleased it did! I wish I had a spot in the garden it would like, but at least it is living where it is- hopefully it won't mind life in a pot.

I will be interested to see if it goes thru the same die-back process come summer. Maybe that is the norm with this plant...
CMK

Hi christinmk,

I was doing some research on ornamental rhubarb for my own curiosity and came across this conversation. How has your rhubarb done since your last post? Thanks!

My rhubarb produces vibrant leaves and a harvest of stems every spring, and then dies and shrivels completely, as if it had never existed. Often in the fall they will send out a few new leaves, but it is the next spring before the plants really come back to life. In my experience rhubarb is not a summer-long plant (and I live in a cold climate). Like lettuce, rhubarb does not like warm weather. It is important not to harvest any rhubarb the first year so that the plants can develop good root systems, and only harvest sparsely thereafter.

Ornamental rhubarb is quite different from the edible plants :-) Wouldn't advise harvesting any of the stems of the ornamental types (quite toxic) and besides, it defeats the purpose of growing this very big, bold architectural plant.

spedi, IME here in the PNW, one can harvest edible rhubarb all summer. It doesn't produce as many new stems in summer as it does in spring but remains a presence all season.

That is a beautiful plant, Peren.al.

Interesting about ornamental rhubarb being toxic, gardengal. I had no idea! Perhaps it is the rainy moist climate that helps (edible) rhubarb in your area to endure all summer long.

Not very rainy or moist here in summer........in fact, it's very dry. But it is not exactly very warm either - 85F or above is considered a major heat wave and doesn't happen all that often. Our very cool summer climate may be the difference.

Edible rhubarb is toxic as well.....if you were to eat the leaves. It is the same oxalic crystals in the leaves of edible rhubarb that inhabit both the stems and leaves of the ornamental types. It is used in traditional Chinese medicine but primarily the root.

"Edible rhubarb is toxic as well" Yes I was thinking about this. Edible rhubarb is supposed to contain trace amounts of a toxin (even in the stems), so if you were to eat enough of it over a long period of time, you could be poisoned. Hence it seems logical that the ornamental varieties simply contain more of this toxin, and were not cultivated for pie making!

Thanks for all of your help! I have to try it! I like the size and texture of the Rheum palmatum 'Atrosanguineum'. Any other varieties out there that any of you have had luck with? I'm in zone 4, pushing zone 5.

Speaking of ornamental rhubarb, I'd love to grow a different species, Astilboides tabularis, that reminds me of the the ornamental rhubarb above. I probably won't be able to try it this year, but maybe next...

You really should deannatoby it is a spectacular plant. I have grown it for years and would not want to be without it. woody is a big fan too.