Elephant ears

[obsessed]

So I went to a friend of a friends house and her backyard was absolutely gorgeous. It was like there was a little patch of Hawaii in the middle of Slidell LA. I wish I had a pic but I don't.

Anyway, one of the plants that I was most impressed with was her giant elephant ears. This was not the elephant ear that grows wild in all the ditches it was ginormous. Absolutely astounding!

I know I need one of those. So anyone grow any, have any advice on how to grow, when to plant, where to buy?

I know they like water and I have a ton of low spots with drainage problems that they would love love love. I want a few green ones and then I want to accent them with black ones.

 

[lesa]

These are one of my favorites, too! Really gives a lush, tropical look. I bought the bulbs (they are big and ugly) at Home Depot. I am in zone 4, so I have to dig them up each fall and store in basement. I bet you could leave yours in. Haven't noticed mine wanting a lot of water-I would be careful of those bulbs rotting. Put a few in the ground and see what happens. They also grow nicely in containers, just not so large. Enjoy!

 

[obsessed]

So I went to a party of a friend of a friends and ended up with like 10 giant elephant ears! They were about my height (5 ft) with huge deep green ears. Now I have my plants for free. You gotta totally love the generosity of gardeners.

 

[EdisonCheug]

So I went to a friend of a friends house and her backyard was absolutely gorgeous. It was like there was a little patch of Hawaii in the middle of Slidell LA. I wish I had a pic but I don't.

Anyway, one of the plants that I was most impressed with was her giant elephant ears. This was not the elephant ear that grows wild in all the ditches it was ginormous. Absolutely astounding!

I know I need one of those. So anyone grow any, have any advice on how to grow, when to plant, where to buy?

I know they like water and I have a ton of low spots with drainage problems that they would love love love. I want a few green ones and then I want to accent them with black ones.

wow! sounds really interesting.
i even havent ever seen that plant.
looking forward to some pics. i want to grow them!

 

[elijahboy]

ive seen them on ebay

i have heard they are poisonus not really sure though

the best place to plant them is near the downspout of a gutter or any where water collects most often and thats why you normally find them in ditches

we have them here but they are the wild ones and they grown the length of the ditch which runs thousands of feet

my mom had the giants

i want the giant reds oh so gorgeous

 

[canesisters]

I got a few elephant ear bulbs 2 days ago and tried to do some research on where/how to plant. (silly me didn't think to check HERE first) It seems - according to the wealth of knowledge online that they require full sun and shade, that they want lots of water and only need to be watered now and then, they grow well in all soils and won't tolerate clay-ish soil......
SO - I planted them near my air conditioner (you know, that big ugly box near the back porch) which is on the west side of the house.
It's clay-ish soil but I added some good dark dirt from near the barn.
They will be shaded by the house till about noon - then SUN till about 2 when they will start to get some shade from the near by oak. About 5, the sun will be low enough to get them directly again until it drops behind the trees across the pasture.
They are almost in the drip line from the roof and are somewhat raised so I'm hoping that water will be plentiful without being the death of them.

So what do you think? Are they doomed?

 

[so lucky]

It may work. You might need to water them if you don't get much rain, but in any case, they probably won't die, just may not thrive with out lots of water. I would never think of planting them on the west side of MY house, because it is like a blast furnace there, windy and hot hot sun reflected off concrete. It's just amazing what a tree will do in terms of changing the micro-climate that benefits from it.

 

[Carol Dee]

I have found bulbs for these just about everywhere! Home supply, Target and Walmart, etc... anyplace that sells seeds and flower bulbs. ours grow well in a semi shady spot in the corner of the yard. It is not wet there. We just water asn needed. The ones in the pots in the pond are much smaller, go figure. The black are so exotic, We have only found the tubers in catalogs. I also need to dig and store overwinter as they are tropicals. Have fun.

 

[joz]

In my yard they're weeds. I've got one that I like, and others have popped up in the unlikeliest of places up to 10' away. We hacked most of them down a few weeks ago, and I tossed them into my compost, and now I have ears unfurling from my compost pile. Weeds!

 

[lesa]

They really aren't as picky as all that... I notice mine grow in shade and sun- bigger leaves in the sunny location.