Over the winter we send our rhubarb as crowns. This basically means that you won’t really see any foliage at all, as whilst the plant is dormant it is just a knobbly bit of root possibly with a few buds. Once you receive your rhubarb crown, pop it in a pot of compost (with the top of the rootball just below the surface and any buds just peeping above the surface) Keep the compost moist in the pot and place it in a sunny spot outside or on a windowsill until plenty of leaf is showing in early spring.
When it comes to planting it outside, remove the crown from its pot. Choose a sunny position and plant it in well manured, rich soil (next to the compost heap is ideal.) Dig a good sized hole and pop the crown in just below ground level. Cover with soil and water well. If you’re planting more than one rhubarb crown then leave 90cm between them. Use the straw included with your delivery to make a mulch below the leaves of your freshly planted crown.
Rhubarb is easy to care for and should be productive for up to ten years. You can harvest your plants next spring after they have had a year to establish. In the autumn the plant will die down. At this time, remove dead leaves and mulch with well rotted manure or garden compost and wait for it to spring back to life.