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Thursday, June 17, 2010

A One-Eared Elephant


My elephant ears are growing very, very slowly. Is this normal?

I bought two tubers (bulbs?) from Wal-Mart in April and this one, watered nearly daily and kept in a shady spot that gets morning sun, has finally produced one giant "ear," which I think is quite lovely.

But I want more!

I pictured a profusion of lush, tropical-looking green leaves. The other elephant ear is still showing little sign of above-ground activity. When purchased, I couldn't tell which end was up on this tuber. So I planted it with a wing and a prayer. A week or so ago, feeling increasingly impatient that nothing seemed to be happening, I began digging up the soil around the tuber to see if perhaps I had planted it upside down. I saw a number of delicate, white roots just under the soil's surface, so I let it be and hope that this one will figure out how to reach the sun.

In other news, I noticed an interesting four-petal clematis in my garden the other day:

Pretty, isn't it?

2 comments:

  1. Oh don't worry - I find the elephant ears really take off in the warm sultry weather of August. Also, the tubers (and therefore the plants)get bigger with age, so it's worth saving them to repot next year. Good luck!

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  2. Thanks. One more question....i know they like a lot of water, but do they do better in shade or sun?

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