What can I plant in pots with elephant ears?
Along with canna lilies, ornamental grasses and even bananas, one of the most popular plants for these outsize containers is elephant ears. With their enormous heart-shaped leaves, these gentle giants don’t need flowers to attract attention. The dramatic foliage and impressive height create an instant focal point.
What plants grow well with elephant ears?
Elephant ears combine well with caladiums. Chinese hibiscus and mandevillea, but they also provide wonderful textural contrast with more typical temperate bedding plants, ferns, or ornamental grasses. Pair dark-leaved varieties with any white, yellow, or orange-flowering plant for vivid contrast.
Can you plant other plants with elephant ears?
Elephant ear companion plants are beautiful additions to any garden. They combine well with other plants that have white, yellow, or amber blooms. They also have small leaves and colorful flowers. Clump types of elephant ears grow in a vase form, making them perfect for planting in a single bush.
What do you do with elephant ear plants in the fall?
It’s a fairly simple process:
- After your first frost, cut the stems to about 6 inches tall.
- Put the tubers in a grocery bag, plastic pot or bulb rate and cover with a mix of peat moss and soil.
- Add water to the container and store it in a cool, dark place to ensure the tuber stays dormant throughout the winter.
Can you plant cannas and elephant ears together?
These plants are versatile, so you can also plant them in containers, or use the cannas and elephant ears as a border along a pond or water feature.
Can I plant elephant ears in August?
Most frost-free times of year are suitable for planting elephant ears in containers but spring planting gives the best results in cool and cold areas. These plants grow spring through fall, and in USDA zones 8 and warmer zones they can be planted outside at any time of year.
Do elephant ears grow well in pots?
If you decide you don’t want to plant your elephant ear plants in the ground, container growing is perfectly acceptable for these plants. Elephant ears do well in containers so long as you provide them with the right sized container, proper soil, and adequate sunlight.
Can elephant ear plants survive winter?
Elephant ears will not survive freezing temperatures, so they are winter hardy only in zones 9-11. In colder areas, you can either treat elephant ears as annuals and discard them at the end of the growing season, or you can store the tubers indoors and replant them next year.
Do you cut elephant ears back in the winter?
1. Cut back an elephant ear plant two or three days after the first killing frost when the foliage turns brown. Depending on the climate, this can happen anytime from late summer to midwinter.
Where do elephant ears grow?
Elephant ears can be planted in full sun to part shade, but it prefers growing in a part shade or dappled sun location. Cultivars with darker leaves need more sun to maintain their color.
How do you plant elephant ears in Kentucky?
You can either grow them in containers and bring the entire container indoors for the winter months or you can cut back the foliage. Dig up the bulb and remove the soil, allow it to dry for a few days in a shaded space with good air circulation, then place it in a brown paper bag.
Can I plant elephant ears in the fall?
How late can I plant elephant ears?
In zones 9-11 they can be grown outdoors year-round. In cooler areas (zones 3-8) the bulbs are planted in the spring and usually grown as annuals. To find your USDA Hardiness Zone, check the map here. When to Plant: Elephant ears are planted in spring after any danger of frost has passed.
What month do you plant elephant ears?
spring
When to Plant: Elephant ears are planted in spring after any danger of frost has passed. The tubers will not grow until the soil is warm, so don’t plant them until the soil temperature is at least 65ºF. In northern climates this will be early June.
Do you dig up elephant ears in the fall?
If your goal is to save your beautiful plants for the spring, dig up all elephant ears during the fall before the temperature drops.