My that is an absolutely beautiful pond! Hopefulauthor, I don't want to sound like a know it all, but you have asked so many questions about 'elephant ears' I think I can help you understand about them a little more. 'Elephant ears' are Aroids. They are in the same general family with Philodendrons, Anthuriums, syngoniums, caladiums, etc. "Taro" are 'elephant ears'. Taro is a sort of a general term used for the edible tubers of elephant ears. Taro is a very important food crop worldwide. Its most commonly known as "poi" in Hawaii. Its also called dasheen and eddo. The type of taro most commonly used as a food source is COLOCASIA. In the ornamental plant trade and industry, there are really only three types that are used on a widespread basis in the USA: Colocasia, Xanthosoma, and Alocasia Of these three types, Colocasia and Xanthosoma are widely grown in water. Alocasia are more terrestrial. There are a couple of alocasias that will tolerate being grown in very wet conditions like standing water, many will not and will simply rot. Here is a series of photos of some of the plants I grow. There are a lot of them, I apologize, but I hope you will find them interesting and helpful. Almost all of these grow in my yard. They go dormant in winter whether they grow in the ground or in water, and come back every year. A very few of these I have to keep in my greenhouse, they would not make it outside here. You may see some here you might want to try sometime. I will split it into 3 separate posts. First, COLOCASIAS: This is a very small colocasia that I use as a ground cover. Its called Colocasia Fallax. It will grow in water or in the ground. It spreads very readily by overground stolons. It rarely gets over about a foot tall. This is a very large growing Colocasia cultivar called Nancy's Revenge. I grow this both in tubs filled with water and in the ground. It also spreads quickly and rapidly by overground stolons This is a relatively new colocasia to the plant trade, but it is actually one of the oldest forms in cultivation, having been one of the major varieties grown for decades in Hawaii as a food crop. This is a variegated colocasia called "Milky Way". The old Hawaiian name for it is "Elepaio". This type loves water and I grow it in water, and also in some of my flowerbeds in the ground. This is another variegated colocasia called "Yellow Splash". This variety is very beautiful, but the variegation can be a bit unstable. If you give it too much fertilizer, it will revert to all green. I grow this one mainly separate from all the others in its own tubs of water so that the can be grown "hard" (without fertilizer) to keep their variegation Here is one that is very readily available, this has been in the trade a long long time. Colocasia antiquorum "Illustris" (also known as "Imperial Taro"). I have these in many different places in my yard. The ones in this photo grow in a natural bog which alternates between being dry in periods of no rain and wet when we get adequate rain. These plants are about 5 feet tall with leaves that measure 12+ inches wide. The all green colocasia to the right is a large growing variety called colocasia "Ruffles". This is a "mixed" photo. The green ear is a Xanthosoma called "Lime Zinger" planted with Colocasia "Black Magic" for maximum contrast. These grow beside a small inground pond in the back yard. The smaller ear to the far left is Alocasia Culculatta. The COlocasia "in the distance" to the far right is Colocasia fontanessii, another definite water lover. This is a tub garden I have that has 3 different contrasting plants growing in it. The dark ear is Colocasia "Black Marble", then there is Colocasia "Yellow Splash" and Xanthosoma "Lime Zinger" And this is one of the newest colocasias on the market, it is called Colocasia "Tea Cups". The leaves are cpuued and point up, and hold water like a cup. This is a PARTICULARLY AQUATIC colocasia and loves water. I only grow it in water. It can get 6-7 feet tall.

Heaviest eater I have had to date is a Hal Miller water lily, gorgeous blooms if you could possibly shove enough fertilizer tabs in it. Honestly. I managed one summer to do that, the reward of the few huge perfect blooms was almost worth it. Yes I know Thai's and the other Colos and Alos like to eat. After the electric bill and potmix bill is the fertilizer bill... (my compost pile is going slow because of the cold). At least I use MetroMix, it's a good pot mix and can keep them happy for a few weeks on it's own as an uppot mix.

Michael Since I've always been an epiphyte freak lol. I find those type pix interesting also. Wouldn't dream of doing that to any of my Broms lol. Of course I guess the most interesting part is the tree rather than the marginal growth. Even if the tree is above water level not only is it being drowned ,every 6 feet of water doubles atmospheric pressure. it is receiving at most 1 percent of the usual amount of light . So does the tree die go dormant.?? I would assume the brom dies and regrows from seed but if the tree does that also how did it get so big?? lol Are you looking at less than one years growth?? Obviously if the tree wasn't there ,no bromeliad in the first place lol I went to Costa Rica primarily to see the jungle like everybody else ,but also to see various epiphytes growing wild lol. I was so disappointed I could see hundreds of species with binoculas, most were easily 50 feet above ground!! I feel sure I saw a Cattleya orchid but could carry the ID. no further. It was around 20 feet from the ground so I gritted my teeth and climbed the tree.More disappointment lol It was not in flower and there was so much secondary growth it was almost impossible to tell where one species started and another began. I counted at least 30 eithr touching the Catt or growing close by. But even casual obsevation for only 3 days was very surprising, The area is listed as non,seasonal evergreen dry forest. It not only rained every day but buckets lol, Only at dawn and sunset for around an hour. Brilliant sunshine tempered by forest of course. The grow area dripped water every day!! was still dripping when I left!! As everybody knows Catts cannot tolerate wet conditions. I wanted to climb the tree and repot it lol Anyway on a happy note there were no dinner plate sized spiders ,scorpions ,or mosquitoes ,tree crabs.snakes In fact I was not bitten at all nor did I fall out of the tree!!! I did mess up a bit of epiphtic mosses and a couple of ferns .I'm hoping very common species lol gary

Goodmorning Everybody ! :) I heard from my swappers last night...:))) Mariann I have a couple of surprizes for you...We love putting surprizes in our boxes Regina started it.. Chell you are so creative and your writing is so much fun to read... I bet the boys loved playing pirate.. I can see their smiling faces now...What a great idea to make a hideout.. They will always remeber their hideout mom made for them... Norma I havent traded with you but I am sure you went way above in sending her nice cuttings..I seen pics of what you send...They are awesome boxes..:)) Please dont be sad..:)) Regina howdy :) I am so sorry about Mark having to have surgery and the heart condition would just send me into heaven.. Wow I am so glad to read it all went well...Shooo My heart sank for a minute...He will be all healed for college this fall..:)) You empty nester dont go through what I went through...Stay busy and call them alot... I miss my kids so much it hurts sometimes... Dogs are okay but they cant replace our true babies...I love reading about chell and her boys... It makes me smile so much... Frances lol You poor gardener..ahhah You need a break from mother nature..Really..:)) Oh big snakes yucky... I would be screaming... I love chippies...They are so cute...Havent had many around with a cat now...Kiki has brought home two gardener snakes...He was very proud of himself... Yesterday I was getting ready to go out and play in the dirt...The crows or blackbirds were screaming...It just like a scene in the movie the "birds"... It creeped me out really bad...I couldnt see what they were yelling at.. I watched tv...Than got bored and went coleus shopping..lol The master gardener sale for the next county over is tommorow... I cant wait to see what they are going to be offering..I have never been to this one...Oh I almost forgot..I heard from the master gardener I met...Looks like we are building another gh..lol She wants to do it closer to fall since everyone is busy with their gardens...I am glad we could help her..They are a pain to build.. well I gabbed enough lol must be the strong coffee and I got a lot of sleep...:)) Have a good day everybody..Barb