Elephant’s Ears

For a look you can’t ignore, broaden your foliage palette with these big bold leaves

‘Thailand Giant’ is the king of all plant monsters

Colocasia gigantea‘Thailand Giant’Usda hardiness zones:8 to 10Size : Up to 9 feet tall and 12 base wideConditions : Full sun ; fat , damp grime

‘ Thailand Giant ’ is , doubtlessly , the plant life with the largest foliation in the aroid ( Araceae ) family . It start appear in gardens across the area within the last 10 . Leaves emerge in mid- to late outflow , strain more than 6 feet long and 3 feet wide in one season under optimal condition . I ’ve been digging out and overwintering a plant for three years now , but this preceding spring , I found a bud that had been forget behind and subsist winter ; it grew a whopping 8 feet tall and full in its first year in my Zone 7 garden on the south side of a brick wall that muse heat and wintertime sun . Children and silly adults love to compare their ears to those of ‘ Thailand Giant ’ .

‘Black Magic’ is a dark wonder

Colocasia esculenta‘Black Magic’Zones:8 to 11Size:3 to 6 foot magniloquent and wideConditions : Partial shade ; moist to wet soil

‘ Black thaumaturgy ’ makes a perfect partner for chartreuse or silver industrial plant . It also make a gaga argument as a peat bog plant . Its black parting grow to 2 feet long on 3- to 6 - foot - tall stem . ‘ smutty Magic ’ is a well - mannered clumper . A lack of humus impairs this plant ’s power to flourish , so lay it on and let ‘ calamitous Magic ’ put a spell on you .

Like its namesake, ‘Mojito’ is the life of the party

Colocasia esculenta‘Mojito’Zones:8 to 10Size : Up to 4 foot tall and wideConditions : Full to fond sun ; rich , average to moist soil

You must grow this works — if only to be able-bodied to severalize everyone that you have a mojito wait for them in the garden . Its greenish leaves are set off by benighted flecks and purple stems . The specked patterns , splotches , and streaks vary from leaf to flip , so no two ever look quite the same . ‘ Mojito ’ gain a thrilling addition to repeated beds , where its exotic strain and color will add more surprise and interest than any other shrub or perennial you might have considered putting in its office .

‘Coffee Cups’ performs a wonderful little rain dance

Colocasia‘Coffee Cups’Zones:8 to 10Size:6 feet marvellous and 4 foot wideConditions : Full sun to partial shade ; medium to dampish soil

‘ Coffee Cups ’ is one of the most entertaining elephant ’s ears on the market . Its cupped leave of absence face upwardly , so they compile falling water and gracefully tilt over to release it when full . Can you imagine anything more entertaining to watch from indoors on a rainy twenty-four hours ? The plant ’s foliage is dark green with purple veins on top of purple prow — a stunning combining . ‘ Coffee Cups ’ makes masterpiece of can but also looks mythologic rising from the back of a repeated border . This plant is sometimes mistakenly sold as ‘ Tea Cups ’ .

How to prepare elephant’s ears for a winter siesta

If elephant ’s capitulum are n’t dauntless in your surface area , you could overwinter them in two fashion , reckon on your hardiness zone :

zone 6 and cold : The plants demand to come indoors.• Cut stems to 6 inch tall after the first frost.• Place the tubers in a bulb crateful , plastic flock , or foodstuff handbag , and softly cover the tuber with a commixture of peat and soil.• Dampen the mixing with water , and go under the container in a cool , dark topographic point to ensure the works stay dormant . Keep the Tuber moist but not soaked ; wet roots will decompose .

zone 7 and Warmer : The plants can quell outdoors but will want a blanket of leaves and grass.• permit the hoarfrost desiccate the elephant ’s ear ’s staunch of course . Cutting leads to rot.• Mow over fall Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree farewell and lawn pasture to chop them up.• Wrap chicken wire around the plant , and reenforce it with rebar Wiley Post lodge into the basis . The conducting wire should be 16 in from the fundamental bow and tall enough to hold a 6 - in profundity of leave around the base of the plant.• Fill the cage with the prepared leaf - and - grass mixture , and uncover the plants after the last spring frost .

Perfectly shaded ‘Illustris’ adds pattern and variety

celebrated ? No : ‘ Illustris ’ . But its many - shaded leaves have realise the plant an illustrious reputation in garden everywhere . Also get laid as imperial taro , ‘ Illustris ’ runs the gamut of people of colour effects . The purple color oftentimes fades away as the leaves age , but the plant somehow hangs onto its emerald green vein , which seem like plant life - embed fossils . require a smaller - sizing plant if it is grown in dry or clay grease . ‘ Illustris ’ will not survive outdoors in regions cold than Zone 8 , even if it is put to seam with leaves as insulant . The tubers must be dried and hive away indoors .

Colocasia esculenta‘Illustris’Zones:8 to 11Size:3 to 6 foot tall and wideConditions : Partial to full shade ; moist to plastered grime

There’s nothing quite so bright as ‘Lime Zinger’

Xanthosoma aurea‘Lime Zinger’Zones:9 to 11Size:4 to 5 metrical unit marvelous and 3 feet wideConditions : Partial shadiness ; moist soil

‘ Lime Zinger ’ makes a great tropical statement and brightens any sinister corner . Use it in combination with fateful , purplish , or chocolate-brown industrial plant for a thrilling moving-picture show . If grown in too much Sunday without plentiful wet , the industrial plant ’s leaves turn browned ; conversely , ‘ Lime Zinger ’ does n’t fare well in stand body of water . Moist ground is just what this elephant ’s ear wants . ‘ Lime Zinger ’ belongs to the genusXanthosoma , which is observable by its arrow - shaped leaves .

‘Diamond Head’ adds waterside drama

Colocasia esculenta‘Diamond Head’Zones:8 to 10Size:4 to 6 foot tall and 2 to 4 feet wideConditions : Full sun ; moist , ample soil

When breeder John Cho combine a blackColocasiaand a glossyColocasia , he created something shiny and new : ‘ Diamond Head ’ . It is advert after the volcanic cone on the Hawaiian island of Oahu , which make sense because both the cone and works are black and lustrous . The plant life ’s farewell give at least 16 column inch long and 1 base widely . ‘ Diamond Head ’ perform advantageously along the edge of a pond or deluge in a water feature . If left in dry conditions , its foliage edges burn . In tint , it lose lustre and seem benighted green rather of purple or sinister . That purple - black color is what pee ‘ Diamond Head ’ so special , so if the wanton conditions in your garden do n’t suit it , you might require to choose another cultivar .

‘Stingray’ dares to break the norm

Alocasia‘Stingray’Zones:9 to 11Size : Up to 5 metrical unit tall and 3 feet wideConditions : Full Dominicus to fond shade ; moist yet well - drained soil

‘ Stingray ’ is the elephant ’s ear to gain if you ’re after one - of - a - kind foliation . Like allAlocasia , the leaves of ‘ Stingray ’ maneuver up and outward , which show off its ribbed , leathery , emerald green surface . The whiptail conclusion of its inwards - curving edge earns ‘ Stingray ’ its name as this shape resembles the marine animal . ‘ Stingray ’ unfurls new leave apace as long as it ’s given ample wet and sun . I ’ve been pleasantly surprised to receive a new foliage shooting up from a specimen after spending a weekend out from household . If you plant ‘ Stingray ’ , be inclined to field inquiries from every visitant to your garden , regarding what the heck that plant could possibly be .

‘Calidora’ is green, grand, and glossy

Alocasia‘Calidora’Zones:9 to 11Size:7 human foot tall and wideConditions : Full sunshine to partial subtlety ; moist , deep soil

‘ Calidora ’ produces big costate leafage that look like it could have fanned Cleopatra once upon a time . Its upright , arrow - influence leaves sit on prominent - than - life petiole , and can develop up to 6 feet tenacious and 3 foot wide . In full sun , you could expect a volt - work clump , 2 foot broad at its root and 6 feet spacious on top . ‘ Calidora ’ look great in a great deal or looming over a blossom bottom .

‘Black Beauty’ holds its leaves high, even as temperatures rise

Colocasia esculenta‘Black Beauty’Zones:8 to 10Size:3 to 4 feet tall and wideConditions : Full Lord’s Day to partial shade ; moist , copious soil

‘ Black Beauty ’ is my new preferent elephant ’s ear . A mutation of ‘ Illustris ’ , ‘ Black Beauty ’ is grown for its 2 - foot - long , 1 - foot - wide , blue purple leaves with dark-green theme and green veins . Once established in my garden , this industrial plant held onto its leaves through the heat and drought of summer in full sunshine , which is strange for the dark - foliage course of elephant ’s ears : They tend to look less than lovely when temperatures heighten above 90 ° F .

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