Alocasia lutea

February 18, 2012
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A. lutea gets fairly large but what sets it apart is the color.  Bright yellow stems, strong and erect with heavy yellow veins on the leaves.  Nothing else seems to have a color as bright as this elephant ear.  It has the typical thick, heavy leaves and large trunk or stalk of Alocasia. The plant [...]

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Hot Plants For Cool Climates

February 7, 2012
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Hot Plants for Cool Climates: Gardening with Tropical Plants in Temperate Zones We live in an area (USDA zone 7) with freezing temperatures in the winter but we really like tropical plants.  By choosing the right plants and taking proper precautions we’ve found many tropical plants that thrive here and return each spring.  Before finding [...]

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Alocasias

February 7, 2012
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These elephant ears have thick, stiff leaves with tips that point upward.  These are tropical plants but like Colocasias, many are cold hardy enough to survive freezing temperatures.  The leaves will be killed back but the bulbs or rhizomes can survive if precautions are taken.  I have Alocasia macrorhizos plants that have been growing in [...]

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Elephant Ears

February 2, 2012
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I love elephant ears! At one time I collected numerous species but let my interest lapse over time until I only had a few plants. Recently I started collecting again and now have a dozen or so species and am adding more. These all fall into one of three genuses, Alocasia, Colocasia, and Xanthosoma. Generally [...]

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Colocasias

February 2, 2012
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Most plant species and cultivars we call elephant ears are members of this genus.  Many of these plants have huge leaves that are kind of “floppy”.  Although the “traditional” elephant ears are bright green (Colocasia esculenta) they actually come in many colors and sizes now.  I really like the big, giant elephant ears but some [...]

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How to Overwinter Elephant Ears

February 2, 2012
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I’ve been growing elephant ears for many years now.  In the past I had a large greenhouse and each fall we would dig up and pot about 100 elephant ears and keep them growing through the winter.  Over time I got tired of the work involved as well as the cost of heating a greenhouse [...]

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