A few years back, I bought some Kanga-Rhu rhubarb from Gurney’s to use up a gift card. It sounded very promising: heat tolerant, extra red, extra sweet, extra everything. I really prize redness in rhubarb, and the promise of a variety that could be harvested further into summer made it seem like just the ticket.
Two years later, I’ve had nothing but disappointment from this plant. To start with, the plant they sent was a quite small TC plant that clearly needed a few more weeks in the greenhouse (at a minimum). I know rhubarb is pretty bulletproof, so I planted it anyway. Lots of compost, free of weeds, and a few feet from another rhubarb planted the year before and receiving pretty much identical treament. The first year, it did about what I expected, which was to grow a little and not produce much. The second year, I was hoping it would size up enough to at least sample a few stalks, but it stayed wimpy. It showed up earlier than the other rhubarb, but wasn’t big enough to harvest. It also bolted early. I was a bit disappointed, but knew it wasn’t out of the question. After bolting, it went fully dormant and I thought maybe I lost it. At the end of summer, it came back and FINALLY grew enough to sample a couple stalks. Super skinny, but they were nice and red. Unfortunately, the flavor wasn’t great. It tasted strongly of beets. I like beets, but it’s not what I’m looking for in rhubarb. I chalked it up to being young still and hoped for better results in spring.
Now what’s really funny is that it refused to quite go dormant over the winter. Any time it was just warm enough, I’d see a few leaves start to come out, only for them to get hammered by freezes. Finally spring arrived, and it was able to grow. Surely, I’ll be able to harvest this year, I thought. Two weeks ago, finally got one “big enough” to try out. Strangely, it was much less red, and like an average rhubarb. And that beet flavor is still there. This repeated last week. This week, I see it’s ALREADY BOLTING! And the other rhubarb is only just getting started for the season. Said other rhubarb has done extremely well, and I’ve harvested for two springs now.
So, long story short, I’m super disappointed. Gurney’s is charging a premium price for these plants, but they’re giving sub-par performance and taste. I’m willing to give it another season or two, but this rhubarb is on notice.