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How to Grow Rhubarb

Rhubarb growing in a garden

Last updated September 7, 2023

Discover the rewards of rhubarb. It’s big, beautiful, tasty and comes back every spring.

This tasty perennial is a vegetable, but it's often treated as a fruit in recipes. The tart, juicy stems make mouthwatering pies and delicious jams, especially when combined with strawberries. Once established, the plants produce for years without fail.

Depending on climate, rhubarb plants can grow 4 to 5 feet tall and wide, with huge, tropical-looking leaves borne at the ends of stout stems. Rhubarb is even showy enough to include as a foliage plant in ornamental flowerbeds.

Rhubarb is grown from seedlings and can be harvested from spring until early summer. It is perennial in hardiness zones 3 to 8. As a perennial vegetable, rhubarb needs a year to settle in. Plant seedlings in year one, feed and nurture, then prepare to harvest in the second year.

If you’re ready for rhubarb, here’s how to start a robust patch.

Difficulty:

Intermediate

Duration:

Under 2 hours

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Table of Contents

  1. Pick a Place to Plant

  2. How to Plant Rhubarb

  3. How to Maintain and Harvest Rhubarb

  4. Rhubarb Cardamom Syrup Recipe