Elephant Ears

battman1_2000 · Joined: 23 Apr 2003 Posts: 8 Location: denton,TEXAS

Being from Florida I had the opportunity to plant 1 elephant ear bulb this spring just for fun. It did quite well and this past weekend it started to bloom. Today I noticed it has 3 "tubers" below where the blooms were. I never really did anyhting with these back in Florida but now I'm wondering what I need to do with it here in Denton. Do I need to dig it up for the winter? How do I store it? And what are these "tubers" that have formed? Thanks for your assistance!

Newt · Joined: 13 Jul 2004 Posts: 147 Location: Maryland zone 7

Hi Battman,

You don't say what your hardiness zone is, so I can't say if you should leave them in the ground or not. They are hardy to zone 8. The tubers that you see are the tubers that the elephant ears, also known as Taro, grow from and are eaten in some cultures. This should be helpful.

http://www.floridata.com/ref/c/colo_esc.cfm
http://www.extension.umn.edu/distribution/horticulture/DG1117.html

Newt