Elephant Ear Plant

Elephant ear plant (taro) (Colocasia Esculenta) is an old time garden favorite that has a multitude of ornamental uses in the landscape.

This particular cultivar is the green large leafed variety that most of us are familiar with.

I have enjoyed growing elephant ears (Caladium)for many years and have planted them in landscape beds or in large containers and discovered them to be very much at home in a bog or water garden setting.

I have yet to find a caladium, fancy leaf or otherwise that failed to thrive in water.

Elephant ears tend not to be fussy as their containers can be placed in water directly after planting the bulbs or corms.

However, fancy leaf caladiums must break dormancy with new growth in progress prior to placing them in water as failure to do so will result in the bulbs rotting.

Plantings of elephant ear caladiums prefer a partial shade environment but will do quite well in full sun as long as extra water is supplied.

They are heavy feeders so be sure to use a slow release fertilizer along with weekly applications of liquid nitrogen.

These beautiful tropical foliage plants can reach a height of eight feet in the garden and provide a form and texture that no other plant offers.

In zone 6B my luck in overwintering them in the landscape has been fairly successful by applying a six to eight inch layer of mulch over the corms and for several feet in diameter around them.