Colocasia, Elephant Ear, Imperial Taro

I live in a 7B zone and mine came back this year.

In zone 5 we bring the tarot in and grow as a house plant.They are magnificent in the pond ans propagate by themselves. I had a minehuna ...Read Morelily bloom against the black magic, Magnificent contrast

my favorite taro, very easy to grow, makes lots of babies to share with friends. My plants have always shown more dark patterning when pl...Read Moreanted in a sunny site, and I keep them in my pond so wilting is never a problem. I overwinter them indoors next to a bright window (zone 6 here) and they just lose a few leaves, then grow more and keep on going!

I have grown this plant for the last two years in a large pot in very partial sun. It grows beautifully through summer in Connecticut. It...Read More is late October now in zone 5b and the plant is still gorgeous. Right before the first major frost I bring it indoors to overwinter in the garage. It comes up in late spring again. I too had thought I lost them at first as they appeared later than expected. Slugs have not bothered it nor have I seen any insect damage. One of my favorite potted plants that make a large statement. Pairs well with Fuchsia 'Gartenmeister Bonstedt' and lime green sweet potato vine. I water my pots every day or so and did not think that this had greater water needs than my other pots. The plant did grow larger in the pots than in the ground probably because I have clay soil.

Neat plant, does well here in S-FL and likes the Summer downpoors. Noticed that plants in sunnier parts of the yard developed a more int...Read Moreense black coloration on the leaves. We started with a #3 pot with about 10 starts about 8 months ago, now we have about 15 or so 3-4' plants with multiple 1-2' offshoots plus another 10 or so in pots.

I planted my Elephant ear last year and it was BEAUTIFUL, even took some baby plants and put them in pots. However this year (April), I ...Read Morewas expecting to see them again but it looks as if its not coming back. Did it go dormant during winter or die? Its seems as though it died. What can I do during the winter to protect it?

I'm giving this a neutral rating, but yet I really think it's just a stunningly attractive, high impact plant. My less than complete sat...Read Moreisfaction with it has to do with the fact that it really requires a boatload of water. And, even if you don't water it, the plant will hang on (looking horrible as it does so) and send out tons of runners.

Also, I see that the hardiness rating for this plant is entered as 9a and above -- it is easily hardy even in a cold winter in an 8a zone.

This is another plant that needs warmer summer nights than I can provide. I tried it, it limped along and eventually failed.

I have grown Illustris in my garden for 3 years now. Each year, I have to dig up numerous new "babies" that come up from underground runn...Read Moreers. Suprisingly hardy and quite beautiful. Has taken some full sun and regular moisture.

I have grown this plant and overwintered inside for about 6 years. This is a fairly fast growing plant and where I started out with 1 pl...Read Moreant in an 8" pot, I now have had as many as many as 6, many of which I've given away. I have two large ones now; one in a 12" pot and the other in a 10," both of which will have to be divided again in spring.

This is an extremely tough plant. I usually set it outside in my water gardens in May and bring them in just before frost in the fall and overwinter in a large tub on my enclosed back porch where it's cooler. I cut them completely back to the pot when bringing in and they quickly start growing new shoots. Keep them just moist. Because I have inquistive cats, and the plant is poisonous to animals, I tend to leave them covered and just check on them / add water ever couple of weeks. They even grow in the dark!

When you set them out in the spring you'll have huge, magnificent leaves that are black and green in no time.

I have clumps growing in full sun and also in mostly shade and don't see much of a difference. It was sold to me as "black magic" and I...Read More was worried that it was fading, but later learned it was Illustris. I love this plant. Have had it almost 4 years.

The first year I grew it, I had it in complete shade. It did well, but the black could have been deeper. It survived a night at 29 deg....Read More F, but did kind of go dormant. I eventually dug it up and brought it into my bay window, where it immediately began to crank out new leaves. When I dug it up, I also dug around and got most of it's dormant runners. I put the runner cuttings lying horizontal in a shallow pan of potting soil and kept them warm and evenly moist. They're coming up now.

This is the third year I have grown this plant in a whiskey barrel outside during the summer. I have a greenhouse (50 degrees F.) where I...Read More pot it for the winter. It goes into a dormant stage and begins to flourish as the weather warms up. This one does not have a tuber--it has fibrous roots. Lots of water during the summer--keep it moist but not overly wet during the winter--one division did rot on me. It's a very lovely plant.

Can grow as a marginal water plant. Has blackish purple leaves with green veins.This is really a pretty plant.