My 'Champagne' rhubarb (crown bought last year) is developing a flower bud.

I've grown rhubarb for years, of unknown source, and have never seen this in
my garden (although of course I've seen it a lot in the fields).

What I'd like to know is will the plant die after flowering?

Should I attempt to stop it from flowering by cutting off the flowering
stem? I wouldn't have thought that would work!

Has anyone any idea what could have spurred this premature maturity?

I bought three crowns, one simply didn't sprout, the other isn't doing
much.They haven't been forced, I didn't have a good crop from them last
year. All in all I was very disappointed both by the service I got from the
supplier and the material supplied.

Mary