"Janet Baraclough" wrote in message
...
The message t
from "Mary Fisher" contains these words:

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?

No chance

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

I just pull them off (stalk and all, as soon as I notice them). It
may respond with more flowers, pull them off too. By removing the flower
you're encouraging the plant to put its energy into expanding the crowns
instead.

OK, I'll try it, thank you.

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

I don't think it is particularly premature, is it? Now I can't
remember which month mine flowers

Well, none of my others has become sexually mature after almost forty years
.... !

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.

Champagne is not one of the most robust varieties, iirc.People often
put the rhubarb patch in some less-favoured corner of the garden, but it
really repays good conditions.

Oh they're in a good place, west facing with masses of natural manure (hen)
and compost. In contrast, the other, ancient, plants are in an east facing
hedge bottom with a caravan hiding most of the rest of the sunlight,
surrounded by grass and weeds - right up to them - and totally neglected
except for pulling the stalks.

I cut off the big flower stem and saw another leaping up from the bottom.
I'll give them a chance this year and if they do nothing much I'll try
something else.

Thank you very much,

Mary