Elephant Ear hostas

Elephant ear hostas are one of the largest hosta plants available.  These are actually an American bred hosta plant.  It is also a hybrid of the hosta plant.  The elephant ear hosta is very distinguishable by their size and color.  A few ways to know that you have an elephant ear hosta are by these identifying characteristics:

*Each leaf is actually chartreuse in color.  They will be very bright in color and hard to miss.

*The shape of the leaf is literally in the shape of an elephant ear.  The leaves are huge; they are three feet across and are one of the largest hosta plant leaves currently.

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*Their leaves are very flat or almost flat in appearance.  They can have anywhere from 12 to 15 veins in them and will have a wavy look to them.

*Elephant ear hostas do bloom flowers.  The flowers are large as well and bloom in a very pale lavender pink color.  When the hosta plant blooms, the flowers actually grow above the leaves.

*From a distance the plants will have an iridescent color or shimmery look to them.  They will have enormous leaves that again from a distance may even look heart shaped.

*Elephant ear hostas can actually grow in both the sun and shade.  They will do equally well in both environments.

*These hosta plants bloom all season and only go dormant in the winter when the frost comes.  They will survive through the winter actually.  Each year that they go through a frost and the winter, actually will re-bloom and be larger and brighter than the year before.Also, they can be planted in or around gardens and trees or they work just as well in smaller planters and containers.

Elephant ear hostas are a hardy hosta plant.  Their watering needs are average and they do need regular watering, essentially daily, however you would not want to over water them either.  Since, they can be grown in both sunlight and shade, this makes the planting and care of the Elephant Ear hosta a bit simpler compared to other hosta plants. 

If you are looking to collect their seeds, the process is the same as with any other hosta plant.  They are a fertile hosta plant and when you allow the Elephant Ear hosta to go through the proper fertilization process, their seeds store very well and can be kept for long periods of time to be used later.

Lastly, there are there are a few different species of Elephant Ear hostas.  They all have the general characteristics and colors and vary in size and shape slightly or the brightness of their color.  They are:

*Colocasia Jack Giant

*Black Magic

*Frydek

*Rabbit Ears - the smaller version of the Elephant ear, sometimes referred to as The Elephant’s Child.

*Lime Zinger

*Alocasia Purple Prince

*Alocasia Hilo Beauty

Again, these different breeds vary slightly in size and color.  There are some that may be a lighter shade of green or that are more blue green then others.  They are all still very large hosta plants with the same watering needs and are able to grown in both sunlight and shade.  These all bloom as well.

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