Elephant Ear - The Old Farmer's Almanac

Want to turn your garden into a tropical jungle? Just add elephant ears! With their giant, heart-shaped leaves and dramatic flair, these showstoppers thrive in wet soil and partial shade—perfect for rain gardens, borders, or containers. Native to tropical Asia and known for their bold presence, elephant ears aren’t just plants—they’re living garden sculptures. Whether you’re growing them for drama, shade, or sheer size, we’ll show you exactly how to plant, grow, and care for these oversized beauties all season long (and save the tubers for next year if you’re in a colder zone!).

About Elephant Ear Plants

Few plants rival elephant ears in making a big impression. With their huge, heart-shaped leaves in dramatic colors, elephant ears are awesome, elegant, and unforgettable. Elephant ear belongs to the genus Colocasia, which are tuberous, frost-tender perennials from tropical Asia. You may be familiar with one species, Colocasia esculenta, by its other name: taro. Taro is an edible root vegetable enjoyed in much of tropical Africa and Asia.

These plants are accustomed to wet areas with the filtered sun of a tropical forest. Therefore, they prefer moist soils and also partial shade. They are good for wet areas along creeks, rain gardens, or low-lying areas.

If you grow elephant ears in a garden bed, that’s perfectly fine as long as they receive regular moisture and don’t dry out (especially in hot summers)! Being native to tropical environments, these plants thrive in warm, humid conditions and wet environments. Elephant ears look great in a container with other summer bulbs and/or annuals.

In USDA Hardiness Zones 7 to 11, elephant ears can be left outside year-round and are treated as perennials. In colder climates, they are typically treated as annuals and discarded at the end of the growing season. However, you could also dig up the tubers after the first fall frost, store them indoors, and replant them next year after the last spring frost.

Elephant ear leaves can reach lengths of 3 feet on top of 3- to 7-foot stems. The leaves usually have prominent veins, and their colors range from lime green to almost black.