Rhubarb pie anyone....

OK, No pie yet, I am looking for the best Rhubarb for flavor. Love Rhubarb preserves,pie and sauce. Looked in the plant files and there are too many types, all with different names...so Help...do I buy seeds, bulbs, plants...what and where do I get them. Does Rhubarb come back year after year. I seem to remember that from my childhood, when I would chew on a branch, loved the juicy puckerness of the taste. Thanks for all the help Arlene

'Tis best to buy crowns of rhubarb, Arlene.

I'm not the least bit familiar with the weather in your area of Texas but can tell you that rhubarb doesn't care for hot summers. (Did you eat those rhubarb stems growing up in Texas or were you in another, cooler, state?)
Or does Texas have high mtns that would keep temperatures a bit cooler than what I'm thinking?)

Anywhooo... if you can grow it in your area, buy crowns/roots, plant them in fairly loose soil, feed them a bit of high nitrogen fertilizer the first year to get good topgrowth. You may not want to pick any stems until the second year. Once the plants are well established you can pick to your hearts content, even to the point of dividing the plants on year 4 and doubling your crop! Yay!

Ahhh yess...rhubarb pie! Stewed rhubarb! Rhubarb pudding! Ya gotta love it!

Shoe

My favourite flavoured rhubarb is Timperley Early - this also came top in a taste test of over 20 varieties at the Royal Horticultural Society's garden at Harlow Carr.

I don't know if you can get it in the U.S. I too would try to grow it from crowns rather than seed, you are more sure of what you are getting and they produce much faster. But if you can only get that variety in seed form give it a try.

I don't know what the best flavor is, but I just started growing some rhubarb crowns this year, and my research shows that they seriously do not like heat. I am in zone 6b and there seems to be some question of rhubarb's ability to survive heat in my zone. I'm not certain if rhubarb will grow in your zone, but if it does you will possibly be limited in variety by heat tolerance. Just my 2 cents worth. If you find something, I hope you let us know!

I'm in zone 8 and rhubarb does fine here. It wilts a bit in hot weather as it has such large leaves, but it soon recovers again, just make sure it doesn't dry out at the roots. It likes good rich compost and I mulch it over winter to protect the new buds. If you can put it in a shady corner it will be very happy.

We get very hot, very dry summers here and it never fazed my rhubarb at all.

I'm glad to hear that you guys are doing well with rhubarb in your zones. There are people in my area who grow it, but they also said that it wilts down in the heat of summer. They also suggested heavy mulch in the summer to keep it from dying.

Using soil moist will help all you gardeners!
I have only watered once in 10 years- well worth the investment!
Anyone wanting further details post here and i'll check and let you all know the benefits- this is a landscapers best trick of the trade, when clients do not have irrigation.
So post here and let me know if anyone wants to know about this .
Thanks.
Sandy

OK, Sandy, please elaborate on "soil moist"

Hi Bubba,
Soil moist is a polymer type moisture retentive crystal. It comes by many names and is found at most garden centers and nurseries. It is the product that is inside products like diapers and depends.
Each tiny crystal holds 100 times its weight in moisture. Its good in the ground for 10 years and does not need to be rehydrated for 30 days.
WARNING; do not buy it already geled- your being cheated out of the quanity you would get by buying it dry.
WARNING: do not appy it dry directly to plants as plants will blow out of the soil when it rains.

!/8 of a teaspoon will do a 1 gallon pot sized plant...however those in very hot and dry climates should use 1/4 of a teaspoon in the dry form.
WARNING: pre-gel your polymer...to get the most bang from your buck!

A baby food jar x 2 will fill a 5 gallon pail. Put soil moist in pail and add warm(can be cold-but takes longer to gel) water to 3/4 full. Keep stirring periodically until it soaks up all the water...if it has a whitish hue to the see-threw gel , keep adding water until the gel is clear.
Dig your hole for plant- water it good. taking your hand scoop up a cupped handful of gel and place in hole.
Add your plant. Water again. And then add soil to cover. You can also add a fertilizer to the gel bucket- slow release type. it will feed your plants at the same time.

The gel can be used for everything: container plants, veggie plants and seed, trees, shrubs and we have even used it to set grass seed and sod( however this is very pricey to do it this way)
It is never too much moisture. In my cold zone it dosen't freeze. What you don't use- leave it set out in shady area to dry( will take days to do so) rejuive with water to use again.

Another water-wize tip: Echinacea of any kind planted in your veggie garden and flower beds is natures water guide. When echinacea becomes wilted you HAVE to water- it is time!
Any questions-please post here and i will watch.
Hope this helps all of you!
Sandy

Thank you.

Your welcomed- i hope it helps everyone!
Sandy

michigander- Thank you for the details on that. I think it's so nice of the pros on DG to help all us amateurs.

SallyG, I just like to help out! I use to grow 52 varieties of veggies and had a road side stand! I still have my road side stand... but i do not grow as many veggies as before. And now I've added my flowers and cut flower bouquets. Gardening of all types is so rewarding!
Glad to have helped.
Sandy