Rheum Species, Ornamental Rhubarb, Turkey Rhubarb

I grew a number of these from seed this spring. (Jelitto seed.) They were huge seeds, easy to germinate, & they grew quickly. However, at...Read More first I thought the seed had been mis-labelled, as seed leaves and young leaves were rounded and looked like regular rhubarb, no sign of the desired "maple-leaf" effect at all! I then purchased a larger plant from a nursery (with lovely cut leaves), and relegated my other "disappointments" to the edge of the nursery garden. Lo & behold, they eventually started to send up serrated leaves, and by mid-summer were indistinguishable from the purchased plant. So I thought I would just mention this, as it would have saved me some disappointment - young foliage is not typical of adult plants - be patient & don't discard your seedlings. By the way, these are very fast growing - foliage of one of this spring's seedlings (planted in good, rich soil, by a pond) is almost 24" wide; plant is 4 ft. tall. Nice exotic effect.

Very Hardy plant.

i planted it out (small plant) while we still had freezes at night , it still grows like mad adding 3 ne...Read Morew leaves in 2 weeks.

I have all palmatum varieties and i can say they don't like full sun in very hot weather , partial is better because the plant wil loose all leaves which is quitte a loss.
if you buy a big expensive plant don't plant it in full sun. - partial shade or light shade is better

after a while they wil grow new leaves that can stand against the sun but this will take a while.

it's hard to overwater it but give it a good mulch, it is important to keep the roots cool in a hot climate.

all rheum palmatum varieties are self sowing and tanguticum has red flowers which is nice!

The large basal leaves, 2'-3' wide are dark green and sharply palmately lobed. Tiny flowers are arranged in 2' long panicles that end 7' ...Read Moretall stems.Tall flowering stems rise above the mounded basal leaves.

The species is harder to grow than the edible rhubarb. It requires abundant fertilizer in the spring. Mulch to conserve soil moisture.

The texture of this plant makes it a natural for a bold display in a border, as an accent, or along the edge of water.

Native to China