Calhoun County Gardening – Cultivating Elephant Ears: A Journey from a 4-Foot Hole to a Flourishing Garden

Calhoun County, AL – I requested a back hoe operator to scoop a big hole in the ground in 2018! The hole goes down 4 feet and about 12 feet wide. The dirt was lousy churt, worthless, and bubbled like white milkshake when water touched it.  The hole created a bowl to hold water longer for my exotic cannas, elephant ears & other water plants. I transplant from this island and share the elephant ears to other zones of mine.  What is amazing is that there is not a tree canopy at this hole. It is sunshine, not one shadow of any afternoon shade. They never sunburn. Which is strange?  But! My elephant ears love the compost mixture I gave them. And they get water that stays longer because of the hole.  Needless to say, … I never need to buy elephant ears!  They die back to the ground in the winter and return late spring. You will need to divide and transplant them as they grow. To reduce bleeding Elephant Ears during pruning here are my Tips :  Prune the elephant ears at the neck of the leaf, not the ground level of the stalk. Excessive butchering & bleeding by improper pruning causes the loss of juices & fluids not going back into the root system. Once the stem dries, you can cut it off. You can enjoy elephant ears in pots also! Elephant ears will grow in shade, semi shade and sun. And I included a photo of them blooming their yellow sweet smelling flower stalks.

Betty Clark is a contributing writer. She is an organic gardener since 1998. Signature flower she grows are Dahlias. She has a straw bale garden, raised bed garden, and in ground garden. Both her surnames are agricultural farming families (8 generations). Her hobbies include ancestry research, antiques, continued education classes, and workshops. She also has a background in marketing & promotions including expos. To contact Betty Clark with gardening questions: bettyclark2151959@gmail.com

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