{"id":3906,"date":"2023-02-20T07:15:54","date_gmt":"2023-02-20T15:15:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/?p=3906"},"modified":"2023-02-20T07:15:54","modified_gmt":"2023-02-20T15:15:54","slug":"elephants-in-the-garden","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/elephants-in-the-garden\/","title":{"rendered":"Elephants in the Garden"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Alocasia\"<\/a>It may not be obvious, but elephants are rampaging in our homes and gardens.\u00a0 Large and impressive, they fill spaces with life and texture in exchange for ready supplies of food and water.\u00a0 The one thing they don\u2019t do is awaken the neighbors with noisy trumpeting.\u00a0 This is clearly a blessing, especially if you live in close quarters.<\/p>\n

The \u201celephants\u201d in question are hybrids and cultivated varieties of alocasia and Colocasia esculenta, most often known as \u201celephant ears\u201d.\u00a0 The vogue for large-scale, tropical foliage plants has resulted in a stampede of these particular elephants.\u00a0 Like their animal namesakes, they make quite an impression.<\/p>\n

First, the basics.\u00a0 Elephant ears are known for their plentiful, large\u2014sometimes very large\u2014leaves that are generally heart or arrowhead-shaped and may more than 12 inches long and 18 inches wide on plants that can be four to five feet tall and wide. Some commercial varieties may be smaller, so it pays to check plant tags and other information. There are exceptions, but generally alocasia leaf tips point upwards, while colocasia leaf tips point down.\u00a0 If you start the plants from tubers, which are sometimes erroneously referred to as \u201cbulbs\u201d, there are also differences.\u00a0 Colocasia tubers have stripes; the somewhat smaller alocasia tubers do not.\u00a0 Tubers of both types have been compared to dinosaur eggs.<\/p>\n

Colocasia is sometimes called \u201ctaro\u201d, and when cooked and processed, is the basis of a traditional Polynesian dish.\u00a0 In the raw state, all the parts of both alocasia and colcasia are poisonous to humans and animals.<\/p>\n

Both colocasia and alocasia make great accents on patios or in pool areas, and can also be grouped together and used for screening purposes.\u00a0 The plants generally grow in full sun to part shade.\u00a0 Colocasia does best in consistently moist soil, while alocasia can get along with a bit less moisture.\u00a0 If you are trying to choose between the two, it pays to think about how much moisture is likely to be present in the growing situation, especially for containerized plants where a human being will be supplying the moisture.<\/p>\n

If you are planning a rain garden, colocasia makes a good, dramatic choice.<\/p>\n

Selecting your \u201celephant\u201d may be the hardest part.\u00a0 If you want to go basic and opt for giant green leaves, pick a variety like Alocasia \u2018Jumbo\u2019, or Alocasia \u2018Sarian\u2019 which, left to their own devices, can grow up to ten feet tall with a bumper crop of wavy-edged green leaves.\u00a0 Colocasia \u2018Hawaian Punch\u2019, has the same green leaves, but produces those leaves on bold pink stems.<\/p>\n

For still more color, pick one of the mottled or variegated varieties, like the currently popular \u2018Hilo Beauty\u2019, an alocasia that grows to a mere three feet and bears black stems and leaves splashed with chartreuse.\u00a0 Colocasia \u2018Mojito\u2019 is also mottled, but the splashes on the big green leaves are near-black.<\/p>\n

Unadorned black is a dramatic color in the garden, and if that kind of drama resonates, colocasia varieties like \u2018Black Magic\u2019, \u2018Diamond Head\u2019 and the ginormous \u2018Jumbo Diamond Head\u2019, all with black leaves, will be perfect.<\/p>\n

If you are dying for your own elephant menagerie, you can buy the plants one of two ways.\u00a0 Some vendors offer young plants in containers, in which case, all\u00a0 you have to do is transplant into larger vessels or into the ground after all danger of frost has past and night temperatures do not fall below 50 degrees Fahrenheit.\u00a0 Situate your elephant or elephant herd in part shade to full sun.\u00a0 If you notice leaves starting to look singed around the edges, move to a shadier spot.<\/p>\n

Buying tubers is cheaper and the selection is sometimes greater.\u00a0 If you choose to start from tubers, order them now, and plant about five inches deep in standard potting mix.\u00a0 They will grow rapidly, especially outdoors in the warm summer months.\u00a0 Fueling that rapid growth is important, so use a general purpose plant food, applied according to manufacturers\u2019 directions.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, elephants and snow do not mix, so your plants need to winter indoors in bright, indirect light.\u00a0 The same goes for colocasia and alocasia that spend their entire lives indoors.\u00a0 Winter is a dormant or semi dormant season for the plants, so do not be disappointed when growth slows dramatically.\u00a0 Both you and the plants need a period of rest.<\/p>\n

If you don\u2019t have room to overwinter your elephant ears, you can lift the bulbs in the fall after the first frost. Let bulbs and foliage dry off on a sheet of newsprint or other paper, then cut off the spent foliage and store the bulbs in a cool, dry place.\u00a0 Replant them in the spring.<\/p>\n

Local merchandisers may carry one or two varieties of elephant ears.\u00a0 For tubers, try Eden Brothers, <\/strong>2099 Brevard Road, Arden, NC 28704, (855) 440-2929<\/a>; www.edenbrothers.com.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Plant Delights Nursery carries an excellent selection of potted starter plants.\u00a0 Find them at 9241 Sauls Rd, Raleigh, NC 27603; 919-772-4794<\/a>; www.plantdelights.com<\/a>. Print catalog available.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It may not be obvious, but elephants are rampaging in our homes and gardens.\u00a0 Large and impressive, they fill spaces with life and texture in exchange for ready supplies of food and water.\u00a0 The one thing they don\u2019t do is awaken the neighbors with noisy trumpeting.\u00a0 This is clearly a blessing, especially if you live … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,6,2,3,5],"tags":[2841,2848,2842,2844,492,2846,126,2843,2845,2847],"class_list":["post-3906","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-fall","category-general-interest","category-spring","category-summer","category-winter","tag-alocasia","tag-aroids","tag-colocasia-esculenta","tag-elephant-ears","tag-houseplants","tag-large-leaves","tag-shade-plants","tag-taro","tag-tropical-foliage-plants","tag-tropical-ornamentals"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3906","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3906"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3906\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3909,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3906\/revisions\/3909"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3906"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3906"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3906"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}