Elephant ear
Colocasia esculenta · Araceae Popular
Enormous, heart-shaped, velvety leaves that point downwards, on stalks as tall as a person. Green, or near-black in forms such as 'Black Magic'.
- Size
- 5 ft tall, 4 ft wide
- Zones
- 8 to 11
- Light
- Full sun to part shade
- Flowers
- Grown for its leaves
- Pets
- Toxic (moderate)
- Job in a bed
- Specimen
A bed built around elephant ear
The planner designed this bed around elephant ear when this page was made: a 16 × 8 ft (4.9 × 2.4 m) English border in zone 8, part sun. It chose the other plants from the 317 that suit those conditions and its wet soil, and says below why elephant ear stands where it does.
The plants
- 1 Mouse-ear coreopsis 'Nana' × 35, yellow
- 2 Himalayan fleeceflower 'Darjeeling Red' × 7, pink
- 3 White mugwort × 3, cream
- 4 Joe Pye weed 'Little Joe' × 4, pink
- 5 Inkberry 'Gem Box' × 1, dark green leaves
- 6 White snakeroot 'Chocolate' × 3, white
- 7 Lady's mantle × 3, green
- 8 Elephant ear × 1, green leaves
- 9 Camassia × 5, blue
Why this plant
- Grown for leaf, not flower. So is inkberry 'Gem Box'. Leaf lasts all season, where a flower lasts a few weeks.
Why here
- At the back. At 5 ft it is seen over Joe Pye weed 'Little Joe' (4 ft) in front of it, and has nothing behind it to hide.
- One plant, alone. A feature plant is seen as an object, and needs clear ground around it.
Why now
- Here for its leaves, spring to frost. They cover the 17 weeks between early March and late November when nothing on the plan is in flower.
Planned as an English border: 6 of the 7 groups (86%) are drifts, longer along the bed than they are deep. The scheme leans cool (pink and blue) and uses yellow for warmth, with cream, white and green to calm things between them. White mugwort and Joe Pye weed 'Little Joe' anchor the back corners of the bed: the tallest plants on the plan stand there.
The planner's own design check: 11 Excellent, 6 Good.
Open this bed in the planner Change its size, the sun or the style, move plants about, or swap one for another.
Where elephant ear goes in a border
At 5 ft it belongs at the back of a bed. In the planner's ten height classes it is tall (4 to 5 ft).
Its job: specimen. A feature plant with a shape of its own. It stands alone with room around it, and repeats only at a distance.
The quickest way to a tropical effect: a tuber planted in June makes a plant taller than a child by August. It needs heat, water and feeding. Lift it before frost in cold areas.
- A tropical effect
- Pond margins and wet soil
- Large summer containers
What to plant with elephant ear
Plants recorded as good partners for it, and what each pairing does:
- Canna: adds the flowers, early July to early October.
- Calla lily: adds the flowers, mid May to mid July; low enough (2½ ft) to stand in front of it; happy in the same wet soil.
- Cardinal flower: adds the flowers, late July to mid September; grows up in time to hide its dying leaves; medium leaves against its bold ones.
Questions about elephant ear
Does elephant ear need sun or shade?
Elephant ear grows in full sun (6 or more hours of direct sun a day), part sun (4 to 6 hours of sun, including some afternoon sun) and part shade (2 to 4 hours of sun, mostly in the morning).
It wants moist to wet soil, rich in organic matter, and plenty of water. It copes with soil that stays wet.
What zones does elephant ear grow in?
USDA zones 8 to 11. It is hardy to zone 8, which means it survives winter nights down to about 20 °F (−7 °C).
Gardening in Canada? Use the USDA zone for your town: Canada's own zone map uses different numbers.
How far apart should elephant ear be planted?
3½ ft (100 cm) apart, from the middle of one plant to the middle of the next. That is a little closer than its full width of 4 ft (120 cm), so a group knits into one patch.
It grows 5 ft (150 cm) tall. Give it the full distance from anything taller, or it will lean out towards the light.
How many elephant ear plants do I need?
At 3½ ft apart, set out in staggered rows:
- 1 to fill 10 square feet (about 1 m²)
- 4 for a single row 10 ft (3 m) long
- 3 to fill a 4 × 8 ft bed on its own
In a mixed border, plant it as one, with clear ground around it: a feature plant is seen as an object, and a group of them is a thicket.
In the bed above, the planner used one in one group.
Is elephant ear poisonous to dogs and cats?
Yes: moderate toxicity to people, dogs, cats and horses. All parts contain needle-like crystals that cause burning and swelling of the mouth and throat if chewed raw.
Rated from NC State Extension and the ASPCA. Where references disagree, the more cautious rating is used.
Is there a pet-safe plant like elephant ear?
These come closest to doing what elephant ear does, and no toxicity is recorded for them:
- Purple-stemmed royal fern: the same job in a bed; 12 in shorter, 4 in narrower.
- Dwarf Hinoki cypress: the same job in a bed; 4 in narrower, fine leaves, not bold.
- Cinnamon fern: the same job in a bed; 12 in shorter, 10 in narrower.
Matched the way the planner's Swap button matches plants: the same job in a bed, then size, then flowering time.
Do deer eat elephant ear?
They may. NC State does not list it as resistant to deer or rabbits. Where they visit, protect it, or plant it among ones they avoid.
Will elephant ear spread?
It spreads sideways, by runners or roots; the risk of it taking over is moderate. Spreads by runners in warm, wet soil, and is listed as invasive along waterways in Florida and Texas. Keep it out of natural wetlands.
What does elephant ear look like in winter?
Elephant ear is underground: it dies back after flowering and waits as a bulb until spring. Mark where it is, so a fork does not find it first.
In these guides
Every fact on record
- Type
- Bulb
- Size
- 5 ft (150 cm) tall, 4 ft (120 cm) wide
- Plant
- 3½ ft (100 cm) apart
- Height class
- Tall (4 to 5 ft)
- Place in the bed
- Back
- Flowers
- None: grown for its foliage
- Leaves
- Bold texture, herbaceous; green, black
- Shape
- Upright, spreading
- Hardy in
- USDA zones 8 to 11
- Light
- Full sun, part sun, part shade
- Soil
- Rich, moist to wet
- Water
- High
- Feeding
- Moderate, in spring
- Family
- Araceae
- Comes from
- India to Southern China and Sumatera
- Stands up to
- Wet soil
Checked against NC State Extension and ASPCA poison lists. Flowering times are for zone 5: later in colder zones, earlier in warmer ones. Toxicity and spread information is a general gardening guide, not veterinary or medical advice, and invasive status varies by region. If a person or pet eats a plant, contact poison control or a vet. Check your local invasive species list before planting anything with a spread warning.