I tried to grow rhubarb in western NC but failed miserably - just too hot for it there (and apparently the plants I put in also have an allergy to black walnut poison). And what was available down there was usually sad looking, only for a very short period and very pricey. I thought it was brought from up north but it is interesting to learn that it may have been hothouse grown.
Here in NS, I have a large patch of wonderful rhubarb that was imported from Britain (so the story goes - over 100 years ago when this house was built to house the British engineers brought over to man the Commercial Cable (telegram) company) and is still going strong (with no help from me). I get almost a full summer out of mine too before it gives up the ghost. I grew rhubarb quite well in Ontario but nothing like this stuff.
I have promised to dig up a bit for a lady who works in the produce department at the grocery store I go to 70 miles from here as soon as spring allows - as apparently even around these parts, rhubarb of this longevity and quality is a rare gem. Always good to have an 'in' with the produce department I figure - I get organics magically marked down sometimes, so far just on the strength of a promise to transplant. 
She also owns a small farm on Cape Breton Island - and has goats and chickens (I will be getting fresh organic eggs for free in trade as well). I really, really hope the rhubarb takes in her garden. Oh and she is also Jamaican and has promised to teach me more about jerk and other foods from that area. Quite the happenstance that I bumped into her one day when complaining about the lack of lemongrass.
