Planted my first elephant ear bulb! (Pic) (growing, palm, trees)
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I plant these in my garden too. When I lived in Charlotte, NC, I bought a bulb labeled "Mammoth". It was supposed to have 3' leaves on it. Mine were over 4' and topped out around 8' tall. I left them when I moved. I wish I had taken them. I haven't had any reach that size in my current garden.
I love elephant ears. I usually have at least 4-5 in my garden a year. Because I'm in a non-tropical zone, though, they only last as annuals and have to be replanted. Generally speaking, you can expect leaves around 16 inches, though I must have some super soil that the the elephant ears love because mine usually push 2.5 to 3 feet long. My MIL doesn't seem to have the same luck with them, though, and is lucky if hers get one or two leaves measuring 8-10 inches. lol
The damned things are like weeds in my part of the world and I was just looking at them this morning with a view to getting out there today with the machete and "pruning" them back. The mature leaves are 16" X 12" and they'd be climbing more than the 20-30' some of them are right now if the palm trees were taller!
It is a member of the Yam family and is used as a food crop in most of central western Africa, there are several varieties, all I have tried were tasty.
Here is what my elephant ear looks like as of this morning! (Planted bulb 4/2/10. Picture below from 5/2/10)
Other plants in the pot include some Zinnias I bought from a local nursery and the little green sprouts are alyssum I am growing from seed.
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