Rhubarb (Pie Plant) Bundle of 2

A Crimson Red rhubarb stalk among broad green leaves

Rhubarb (Bundle of 2) | Spring 2027

$59.99

Reliable shipping

Flexible returns

Ripening

Will it finish before your first hard freeze?

Check it on the Ripening Map (opens in a new tab)

Disease resistanceNot tested yet

Crown rot : Unknown, no published data yet
Leaf spot : Unknown, no published data yet

Scored 1 to 5. Higher resists better, and ? means no published data yet.

See it on our perennial vegetable disease chart (opens in a new tab)

At a glance: Rhubarb is a perennial vegetable rated hardy to zone 2 in our ratings (winters to -50°F), needs no pollination, and it ripens about May 9 to Jun 29 in Missoula (our Missoula estimate).

Also called	Pie plant (Rheum x hybridum)
Hardy to	Zone 2 to 8. A bare number means the whole of zone 2, colder half included (winters to -50°F). Our notes have it taking -50°F. Find your zone with our cold hardiness calculator.
Chill hours	About 1,250 hours (1,000 to 1,500). From published figures. Montana winters give it plenty. In milder climates, make sure your winters average at least this much. Check your chill hours or see our sources.
Pollination	No Pollination Needed. Rhubarb is grown for its leaf stalks, which need no pollination, and extension advice is to cut off flower stalks as soon as they appear. If left, bees will visit the flowers, but rhubarb is not an orchard pollenizer. Bloom group is our estimate from the variety's origin and relatives. Pollination Charts.
Ripens	About May 9 to Jun 29 in Missoula (a Missoula estimate from published sources). Real years swing about a week either way. See the date for your town.
Good for	Pies and baking (9/10), sauce and butter (8/10), canning and freezing (8/10), perennial vegetable (8/10), jams and jellies (7/10), wine (6/10). Scores are our own 1 to 10 ratings; 8 and up makes our Best Of lists.
Deer	Seldom badly damaged by deer.
What you get	Bare root, Large 3 Yr. Crowns. Shipped or picked up in Missoula in spring, roots wrapped in moist sawdust. Guaranteed to bud out.

We have two selection of cold hardy rhubarb, Canadian Red and Crimson Red. These varieties have done exceedingly well not only in western Montana where they have both survived temps between -30F and -40F, but also east of the divide where temps can dip below -40F.

Hardy to -50F or more, these are both bullet proof. A bundle of 2 comes with one Canadian Red and Crimson Beauty. The crowns are very large and are going on their third year.

Questions we get about Rhubarb

How cold hardy is Rhubarb?

We rate Rhubarb hardy to zone 2, which means winters down to about -50°F. Our notes have it taking -50°F. Our ratings come from real winters at our two Montana sites and from trusted growers across the North, not from a catalog average.

How many chill hours does Rhubarb need?

About 1,250 hours of winter chill (we count hours at or below 45°F), likely somewhere between 1,000 and 1,500. That comes from USDA and Oregon State: crowns need about 7 to 9 weeks below 50°F to end their winter rest, and a few days of hard freeze won't do it. Short, mild winters give weak spring stalks. Our chill hours guide has a calculator for your winters, and our research page lists the sources.

When does Rhubarb ripen?

About May 9 to Jun 29 in Missoula, Montana (an estimate built from published sources and our climate). Warmer places run earlier and cooler places later; our ripening map converts the date to your town.

What is Rhubarb good for?

Our top use scores for Rhubarb are pies and baking (9/10), sauce and butter (8/10), canning and freezing (8/10), perennial vegetable (8/10). Anything scored 8 or higher makes our Best Of lists.

Is Rhubarb disease resistant?

We don't know yet. Nobody has published solid disease data on Rhubarb for crown rot and leaf spot, so we list it as unknown instead of guessing. That doesn't mean it's weak. Plenty of the plants we grow have never been through formal disease trials. Our perennial vegetable disease resistance chart has every rating, the notes and the sources.

Will deer eat Rhubarb?

Not badly. Deer may nibble Rhubarb, but they seldom do real damage.

What arrives, and when does Rhubarb ship?

A dormant bare-root plant, roots wrapped in moist sawdust with a vapor barrier, shipped or picked up in Missoula in spring. Sizes offered: Large 3 Yr. Crowns. We guarantee our plants bud out. Stone fruits can be slow, so if one still has not budded out by August 15, write to us and we credit you for the following spring.