Ok, now MICK, my elephant ears were about 6" big. And you are in the SAME zone as I am.

Now, WHAT did you do that gave you those monster puppies? Did you jump them inside?

Nope..started that one outside as soon as the weather got nice, added good soil and moo poo. The rest is history

Moo poo? Oh man, manure. Ok, guess you have to. . .ya know. . .do what it takes. Ha! Ohhhhhhhhhhhhh......yuck.

Ok, I'll try it again this year. Lowe's has bags of them now. I'll get a bag of 'em (even some black elephant ears) and give it a shot. And this year, I'll remember to dig them up.

You don't have to eat it. LOL

Lowes is where I got mine from

Dweeb let me check on Monday if I have some EE's left. I know I can start sending the EE's out to at least the warmer climate zones already.

I would be happy to share my EE's with you. I will let you know on monday. What zone are you in?

Lucy

I'm afraid my Black Magic didn't make it.. I wonderful if our Lowes carries them..HMMM! I started to go today but the dang wind was blowing 30mph and that placed was packed... I think I can wait till Monday morn..LOL
Nice to see ya Annette!!!!
Kylie

Hey Kylie,
I am surprised that you have problems with colocasia Black Magic. I have alot of them and they don't need any care at all. They just thrive.

Siam.

Siam ha ha ha I think there is a slight zone difference between you and Kylie lol

Kylie I bought one the other day. I just have to try them this year since I love the dark color a lot.

Let me know if you can not find one. I love to send ya one :-)

You are right about the wind. I was going to pick up some soil since we were at Lowe's already. But Maddy was with us and the minute we got out the car we just started to freeze because of the wind. MONDAY it is for me too lol

Lucy

Thanks Lucy!!! I'll get with you on Monday..
Yes Siam Lucy is right about the difference in conditions LOL... The one (BM) I had thrived last yr and I pulled it for the Winter... It doesn't look very good right now..LOL
Siam what banana's do you have that are grown there???
Kylie

Lucy:

I'm in Illinois (yea, h*ll was over booked so I live here).

Ha! It's still freeeeeeeeeezing here. But spring is coming, I can feel it. The wet, the humidity hangs just a little longer (not much, still dry), etc.

I can't WAIT for spring to get here. I should go find the Farmer's Almanac on line and see what they're saying for this coming spring.

It amazes me that THAT book, can predict what is coming in the seasons but we can't get a forcast right one week out.

that is funny. with the h*ll and the forcast. A week? It seams like they change their predictions by the DAY rofl

Sun is coming out. So I got to hurry and go out and lift off all the milk jugs and pots from the plants I used yesterday trying to protect the new growing plants from the FROST they had predicted. Not sure how cold it had gotten last night.

Kristy any idea?

Lucy

Farmer's almanace for MY AREA!!:

-----------------

April and May will have above-normal temperatures and below-normal precipitation, with hot temperatures in mid-May.

Summer temperatures will be near or slightly above normal, on average, with below-normal rainfall. The hottest temperatures will occur in early and mid-June and mid-July.

September and October will be cooler and drier than normal.
------------------------

Yessssssssssssssssssssss - I'm gonna get a nice early warm spring!

YEEEEHAWWWWWWW! yes, yes yes yes.

Not like that crummy weather last spring last year!

Size of an EE

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That's just wrong man. I'm glad you told us what that was.

That was really nasty for a second as that pic loaded. (grin)

Are those your EE from last year that you dug up?

That was before they went into the ground.

Nasty...why so?

Mick

glaswegian, thanks for posting this one as I also picked one of these up this am! Oh I can't wait for this one to join it's cousins.

Mick:

Because at first, I thought I was looking at the world's largest insect caccoon of some type. I thought, "oh man, that's nasty. Why are we looking at that. I'll go stare at my ant pile I killed yesterday."

Then your description. (grin)

Ok, I have to tell you guys. I asked DH "hon? Would Bob mind if I went over there and got some of the manure to use on our gardens this year?"

He said "Bob will tell you take as MUCH as you want. He has to PAY to have it hauled away."

I said "Hon? Can I use YOUR car to haul it?"

That was the end of THAT discussion.

Mick, I was trying to get the 'real deal' for the gardens.

THAT didn't go so well.

Hey Kylie,
In the Caribbean we have about 5 different types of edible bananas (not sure of the correct names), also two varieties of plantains. Also there are 2-3 varieties of decorative bananas. I dont have any bananas in my garden, they are fairly common.

Siam.

Mick those are HUGE! That is BEFORE they went in? Oh my gosh they are monster EE's by now! Mine are round ones. Did you say what kind EE's they are...name?

Lucy

The top one is what we got today. The other is the one we kept in the Brughouse all winter.

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The one still growing looks different. Does it stay small? photobucket is not enlarging so maybe it just LOOKS small. But pretty shape!

I am so looking forward to the BM to grow this year.

Lucy

KHT...you are welcome.

Lucy...do you know how many times I hear that. LOL *blushing*
I forgot what kind they are, but you can seethe difference btw my plant and the one posted by KHT

Costco also carries the kind posted by KHT, but mine came from a local nursery

Hey Mick,

I see in your picture you have cannas. What variety is it? do you have seeds? I would really like to trade with you if you have seeds.

Siam

Mick you know you are a funny guy. One time I have no other thoughts but what I wrote and you start blushing roflmao

that was a funny one lol

Lucy

LOL the tubers on the big green ee's are funny looking. I've seen some close to the size of a trailer tire. They definitely look perverted !

OMG, I spent way too much at that co-op but it was so fun. I got mostly alocasias but some colocasias and nanners too, and then that swallowtail thingy. Can't wait to get them! Gonna have to figure out where to put it all and get lots of pots and dirt since they will be small at first.

Those baby Maui Magic EE's seeds I planted are finally starting to look like EE's now. One is getting nice dark coloring and a few have dark red stems. They all look a little different.
~Lenette

givelittle_getlots, the one that is growing is taking up the whole center of the Brug House and is close to 3 feet tall. It bloomed in the back of the greenhouse last year and the seeds dropped. At the base is a baby pup or whatever they are called. She has a tag in the pot and you can see just how important these are. We have a couple of black ones also but they are tiny.
SJN, would you post a photo?
Again thanks glaswegian, I feel another addictions starting.

Sure karma:) Here are some of the babies. Maui Magic x ? (maybe x itself-no clue- lol) I am making these photos large because the thumbnails don't always open up and it would be hard to see if they didn't-I hate photobucket.

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This is a closeup of the one that has started to get some dark hues to the leaves. I just gave them all thier first dose of Miracle Grow today and will prob repot them up this week in better soil.
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~Lenette

I just love elephant ears. I grew about 10 varieties in my garden last year. Some of them are alocasias, some are colocasias, and there are the xanthosomas, too. Some of them form bulbs that can be stored dried out; some don't form bulbs and therefore cannot dry out completely. Again, some of them make multiple runners, and some just clump. So the term 'elephant ear' can mean any of a huge number of plant varieties.

I think the most common is Colocasia esculenta (your garden variety 'taro'). This does form a spherical bulb that can dry out. To get it started in Spring, soak in very warm water for several days, then plant.

The so-called 'uppie' taro, Alocasia macrorrhiza has a more oblong (football-shaped) bulb.

By far my favorite is the 'Black Magic'. It got huge last year. It does not form a bulb that can be dried (to my knowledge). I have about a dozen plants I'm wintering over. I have two water buckets full of them (just in water) and numerous pots of them that I keep fairly moist and growing over winter.

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There you go again, Dave...with those beautiful plants!
I have an order in the making for Plants Delight Nursery.
I'm looking around before I send it in though.
You have wonderful color combos. I bought two Monmouth
EEs at Lowes...hoping that it's a good choice.
Margaret

Lenette...Get your dirty mind out of the gutter. LOL

KHT...surely you are not calling me an "enabler"? LOL

Lucy...yeah right

Siam...I don't do seeds when it comes to Cannas

Dave how beautiful! Thanks for the info on the differences. For ME very helpful since I also love to get a lot of different varieties.

Lucy

Yes we know....give little, get lots :-)

i love this kind of plant,are these in the brug family

margaret I have been getting my order for PDN ready too. Lucky for me my computer died with my order on it. Hopefully when I re do my order I can trim it down a bit!

Mary

Mick now you are putting my nick name in a hole new prospective roflmao

Mary you lucky girl you. The only thing that always only saves me, is when I have to hit the x to close down the browser real fast after I see the total lol

Lucy

Canna bulbs waiting for the warm weather

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Mary, I'm holding my order for just a while longer because
I'm hoping that most of the plants will have come out of
dormacy. I like to see GREEN when the plants arrive.
Hopefully, I can trim mine down also...It's not easy.
Margaret

Kylie, did you ever replace your Black Magic? I'm pretty sure that's the variety I have growing in pots. You're welcome to one of mine, as I really need to make room for the plants arriving from the co-op. Let me know soon, as its about ready to start growing. Best to ship it to you before it gets too far.

Ryan

Send some here Ryan if you are looking to get rid of them

If Kylie doesn't want it, it is yours Mick.

Sounds good to me

Just bumping this up, as I wasn't sure Kylie saw my offer.

Last chance ;-)

Send it here Ryan :-)

;-) ok. shoot me an email with your address. and let me know when its safe to ship.

I think Kylie is too busy over on the world of brugmansia website to pay attention to us here ;-)

Email has been sent Ryan

Got it, Mick! Will package it up this weekend and get it out Monday.

Not here yet Ryan..just a heads up :-)

Thx for the bulbs Ryan...the package arrived today

Cheers

Mick