Elephant's Ear

PERHAPS VICTORIANS appreciated the beauty of leaves more than we do today. I think the British poet Alfred, Lord Tennyson must have been inspired to write that line, "Come into the garden, Maud," after seeing taro root, or elephant's ear (Colocasia esculenta). In sun to light shade, the coarse large tubers put up sensuous rosettes of oversize leaves on three- to five-foot stalks -- like rhubarb from another world.

Grow the variety 'Antiquorum', and you will want to show it to someone. It has foot-long arrowhead leaves typical of the genus, but they are a deep emerald green with inky matte middles, looking as if they were just peeled off an ancient botany book. 'Illustra' has prominent violet veins. The backs of some have an opalescent, skinlike texture. Native to the tropics of East Asia, elephant's ears need to be planted where they'll receive extra moisture -- in the vicinity of a birdbath or near a drippy hose connection.