Our rhubarb bolted at the end of May last year. We're used to it bolting around mid-summer, so that was unexpected. I can see the tops of the plants now. It's still early for them here. We've got an old variety of unknown origin. It came with the house.
I had a large patch in the lower garden that always bolted, what seemed, earlier and earlier. I heavily divided the root , spread it over a larger area,added a huge amount of manure/compost, and watered it a little more than I used to. The early bolting calmed down quite a bit. Last year was a very hot year, so I mulched the roots with lawn clippings to keep them cool. Mine tends to want to flower when it's too warm. Rhubarb Gooseberry wine is a favourtie here. And Rhubarb Banana Jam. ( yup....quite good)
As folk are saying, cutting the flower spikes off saves the plant a lot of energy that would otherwise go into the roots and stalks. Just try to cut the stem flush so it doesn't hold water in the hollow stem that could make it rot. A good dressing of manure/compost is always good and as Melody says, mulching the roots to keep cool and keep damp is always good. Here's me winning a prize at 5 minutes 40 into the vid
