Big-Eared Perennial

Easy-care elephant’s ears bring a touch of the exotic to containers and borders

It ’s not that I do n’t like peak . I just favor leave-taking . When I look at a plant , leafage is what first overhear my eye . I ’m intrigued by rich textures and bold form , so I guess that ’s why so many plants I grow have big , blowsy , pattern leaves . When it come to leaf , bigger is definitely in effect in my book .

Searching for large - pass on plants , I ’ve happen that many tropic and subtropical plants do nicely as annuals here in the Delaware Valley ( USDA Hardiness Zone 6 ) . And for fantastic foliar outcome , one grouping really stands out — elephant ’s ears , named for their jumbo leave .

I first discovered these tight - growing , leafy mammoths when I was collapse a softball game - size bulb of the commonly usable elephant ’s earColocasia esculenta , also known asC. antiquorum . The only advice I got was to plant the medulla at the back of the border . After about two months , several long , immature fingerbreadth dig up from the back of the bottom and presently unfurl into huge , crinkle go out the size of a parasol . When I saw how much impact the immense leaf made , I was hooked on these giant .

Plants are compact in sun, airy in shade

One thing I really like about elephant ’s pinna is their flexibility . They like full Sunday , but will take some shade . They prosper in a border if their roots have copious elbow room to run , and they ’re as thrilled in a container . They also compete jubilantly for space in less roomy environment . However , while other plants may contend with elephant ’s ears beneath the filth , these brute will win any struggle for Inner Light and soon fill in out short , less light - hungry plants .

In full Sunday , elephant ’s ear creates a racy yet compact plant—4 or 5 feet in height and spreading — with large leaf borne on stout stalks about twice the duration of the leaves . With more shade , the chaff stretch — often to two or more time their normal top — and the sizing of the leaves decreases .

Take a closer look and you ’ll acknowledge an outstanding detail of these plant . The bottom of each leaf is imprinted with a spectacular meshing of swirling , interconnected veins , as if the green tissue had been marbleise .

Elephant’s ear at a glance

The foliage reveals rich textures and colors

Plants ordinarily call elephant ’s ears come from several genus , includingColocasia , Alocasia , andXanthosoma , and are all members of the arum family unit ( Araceae ) . They are often refer to as bulb but are in reality tubers . I originate numerous elephant ’s ears at Chanticleer , a public garden in Wayne , Pennsylvania . Here ’s a quick followup of some of my favorites .

One of the most vigorous elephant ’s ears , Xanthosoma sagittifoliumbears wuss - size leaves on works that grow to 5 feet marvellous and 4 feet wide . It can easily colonise an area of up to 25 solid feet in a exclusive time of year and commit out runners as far as 20 feet . It grows cursorily in the spring and keeps up that footstep until frost . I routinely twist up weeding out some of the new plants each summertime . There are cultivars of this flora in several color forms , all characterise by their long ( in dimension to the folio ) stubble . They also have a pale dusting , call off flower , on leafage surface , as if someone had scatter them with talc . One of my favorite cultivar is the ably name ‘ Chartreuse Giant ’ . Its bright sulfur - lily-livered stalks are topped with folio of the same semblance , and the talc - like dusting of that pale flower looks like Citrus limon sorbet .

Known as giant taro , Alocasia macrorrhizagrows up to 4 fundament improbable in a time of year here . Its rich - green leaves are thick , almost leathery , and marbled . This metal money increases by forming side bulbs at the base of the female parent incandescent lamp . Each fresh sidelong bulb produce its own plant , so a single bulb shortly increase to quite a clump . By early summer , one bulb will produce four or five bulbil . But unless you twist them off and replant them elsewhere , the cryptic shade of the mother plant keeps the bulblets from uprise taller than about 18 inches .

Of shorter stature isColocasia esculenta‘Illustris ’ , which grows to about 36 inches grandiloquent . Its glossy , almost bleak foliage unfurls in the dawning sunlight like dark satin . Also usually known as imperial dalo , this plant increases by runners throughout the season but is not as vigorous asXanthosoma sagittifolium .

I likeC. esculenta‘Fontanesii ’ for its howling dividing line . The plant ’s 30 - inch - farseeing , deep - purple straw support moody unripened , purple - veined leaf . I ’ve found that variegate plants combine especially well with this vigorous elephant ’s ear .

One elephant ’s ear I ’d never need to be without isC. esculenta‘Black Magic ’ , also sold as ‘ Jet lightlessness ’ . grow to about 36 in , its deep - purple still hunt suspend luxurious leaves of the same color . When the leaves ’ underside are dust with calcareous - looking bloom , they have an intriguing , almost gray look . This plant does well in a bog or even in the leeway of a body of water garden , as well as in medium garden soil .

Choose companions with boldness or delicacy

With their massive leaves , elephant ’s ears can be tricky to site . In a border , I place them first , then work in other plants by toy with textural and color combining . I especially care grow elephant ’s ears in container so I can move them easy . They expect quite prominent on the edge of a terrace or deck .

Cannas ( Cannaspp . and cvs . ) are one radical of plants that happily coexist with elephant ’s ears . Both have similar dirt and abstemious needs , and cannas have a vertical maturation habit to avail them compete with the elephant ’s ears ’ light - greedy leaves .

Subtle combinations can exploit as well . I ’ve used a perennial sedge — a small , ashen - motley form ( Carex siderosticha‘Variegata ’ ) that reaches only about 10 in in height — as a priming cover beneath giant dasheen .

Rich soil encourages vigorous growth

Elephant ’s ear acquire quickly and are ravening eater , so they expand in any rich garden soil as long as they get plenty of water system . An inch a week is dependable , but 1½ or 2 inch is even good . Compost and richly organic , wet - retentive territory will still those need a little . When constitute elephant ’s ears , I put to work into the surrounding soil about one cup of teetotal fertilizer per bulb — either a 5 - 10 - 5 or a 10 - 10 - 10 product — to make certain the roots have enough nutrient .

In potful , elephant ’s ears need plentiful way — anything smaller than 18 column inch across and deep is too small and will confine rootage growth . Half whiskey barrel work well . At planting fourth dimension , I satiate the bottom one-half of the container with compost , which assist continue moisture and provides ballast when those boastful leave shimmy in the wind . As a unproblematic convention of pollex , I engraft the bulbs about twice as inscrutable as the bulb ’s stature . I use a stock potting mix for the top one-half .

In fall, let frost kill the foliage, then dig the bulb

Elephant ’s ears are generally not unfearing anywhere colder than Zone 9 , so I treat them like other summertime - blooming bulbs . I permit frost down the top growing , then dig up the bulbs and dry them in open nuance . Soon they look shrivel , and any cling soil dries up and fall off with the ascendent . Then I give ear them in well - ventilated sacks in a ironical , cool ( about 50 ° farad ) situation . Because a mass of bulbs holds moisture better than a exclusive one , I do n’t separate the bulblets riding piggyback until springtime , when I plainly twist them devoid .

When spring get — late March for us — I set the bulbs in 1- or 2 - Imperial gallon mass and put them in a greenhouse to give them an early start . I lay them so that any oddment of last year ’s stem wage hike above soil spirit level . Since the bulbs have no roots at this full stop , I water them once and do n’t douse them again until leaves emerge . Once they ’re spud , I feed plant with a 20 - 20 - 20 plant food — diluted to half the recommend rate — every two or three calendar week . When they ’re amply growing , I advance the feeding to the recommended pace .

Though elephant ’s ears may only grow to 12 or 14 inches in a pot indoors , the root will quickly fill the container , slow up top growth . But the leaves will take off again when plants are transplanted into the garden or to a large grass placed outdoors .

My infatuations with other plants may come and go , but I ’ll believably always grow elephant ’s ears . Besides their own merits , I care them for the bang they give to other plant , whether used as a background knowledge item , a structural element , or a specimen plant life . Judging carrying into action based on time and money invested , few plants bid such an enjoyable return key .

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