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Mysterious Rhubarb-Companions
As a rule, do you plant rhubarb-companions with a special role to play in the garden? Do closeby plants aid or act as a hindrance to the growth of your rhubarb? It's all about getting along which is the basis for companion-planting and complimenting the progress of each-other throughout the growing season. It would seem that certain plants appear to do better when grown near
other plants, and for any variety of reasons. It is apparently not an
exact science for all plant combinations either.
When it comes to rhubarb-companions, I can tell you what I have observed
in other gardens.
But first of all, the idea behind companion-planting is what benefit
does one plant provide that can meet the need for the other to thrive?
For instance, tall flowers that love the sunshine, can provide a source
of shade for the smaller ones who don't require as much.
It has been suggested that small rhubarb-companions can benefit from
the shade, but be protected from the winds and other harsh elements
as well.
If two different plants were competing heavily for the same resources, they could both wind up the losers if too close together in one area. Therefore, they may not make good plant companions.
Some plants will return nutrients such as nitrogen to the soil.
In fact, they may return more than they took, which in turn will
benefit "the others" around them.
This and some of the earlier theories behind companion-planting make use of much smaller spaces when planning your garden. The planting of specific plants near each-other can simply be for the purpose of visual beauty by arranging various colors and heights. Some people say that one plant can enhance the flavor of another. And then there are the insects.
This is where rhubarb-companions come in handy.
Companion-planting uses the theory that certain plants will attract
specific insects, thus luring them away from other plants, like your
prized vegetable bed for example. The "bait" plant is referred to
as the "trap-crop", which is discarded from time to time. The prized
vegetable bed remains protected.
Garlic and onions are good rhubarb-companions through smell, as they
do the opposite, but to the same outcome. They repel aphids
which love to get at the rhubarb. Sweet peppers act in the same
way.
In turn, rhubarb is a good friend to columbine flowers, as it repels spider mites. Rhubarb protects beans against black fly infestation. 
Other good rhubarb pals are members of the brassica family. This family includes kale, cabbage, broccoli and cauliflower. They seem to do very well near a rhubarb patch, though I have not heard a specific reason why. It may have something to do with the acid in the rhubarb root, but no-one seems quite sure. 
So what makes a good rhubarb plant friend? Does the rhubarb need protecting, or is the rhubarb actually the protector? It's a little bit of both I guess.
I have in fact seen a huge row of rhubarb planted at the back of a garden, with rows of tomatoes, cucumbers and beans fairly close in front. Neither seemed affected by the presence of the other two. I believe there were raspberries nearby as well. The garden produced well, and we ate from that garden every year. It was wonderful. The only complaint I actually heard was about the slugs which
were in the rhubarb. I think in that instance, toads would have
made good rhubarb-companions.
Rhubarb can play other roles in your garden as well. Not only
is it grown for food, acts as a protector to other plants, but it
can just add to your garden landscape simply from the natural
beauty of the various species.
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