Rhubarb is a very long-lived perennial; my patch has gone 20+ years, only divided once. Others I know have had their patch for decades. It doesn't like excessive heat though, or water-logged roots. Several gardeners on forums reported rhubarb dying last year during the heat waves - including some in my climate zone. Mine stayed healthy, probably because it is planted on the East side of a building, where it is shaded from the hot afternoon sun.

Rhubarb should be trimmed back to the ground after frost - and it needs some time below freezing. I gardened in Palo Alto for several years in the 80's, and in some areas near the Bay it never froze in the Winter. Did you have a freeze last winter? When did your plants die?

Zeedman - thanks for the reply. We did have a heat wave this summer. A few days in the 90's and even over 100. We rarely get freezes. Only once in the 36 years we have lived here. It was in full sun, no shade, so maybe it got fried. What I don't understand is why after so many years in the same place getting the same treatment did it die.

critters?

My rhubarb could be 100 years old. It is very healthy.

Maybe on the coast it gets cooler, but here in Fresno it is just too warm, and either critters get the roots or there isn't enough cold. I cna't grow it at all... unfortunately.

"Deliquesced," oh my, I didn't know that after all my reading and at my late age I could such another delicious word to my vocabulary, thanks for that, I love it!

Joan