Another Aptly Named Plant

There can be no doubt where the elephant ear got its name.  The example here is only a medium size plant.  The bulb was planted in the spring and really had a somewhat slow start.  I will have to dig it at frost and winter the bulbs in the basement.  I live in the mountains of western North Carolina, and I won't take a chance we have an extra hard freeze.

 I also have some elephant ears in pots that I just cut back and move to the basement.  Actually, my friend Linda, who inherited a large old house near us from her parents, has a clump of these plants probably twenty feet in diameter that have wintered at least 25 years without freezing and rotting.  They probably are so close together the bulbs protect each other, and the dead foliage provides mulch.  You can imagine how impressive her elephant ear patch is.