Is it a plant or animal? Pharaohs Mask Elephant Ears will have you wondering with its purple, almost ebony veins that bulge from the bright green leaves. The fascinating 3-D effect creates extreme drama in containers and gardens placed indoors or out. Adding to its intrigue at maturity, the leaf edges curve under, showing off the purple veins even more. Sturdy dark stems, the same rich purple-black color of the veins, display leaves like masquerade masks. It forms a tight clump that stands 4’ tall. Easy to grow in full sun or part shade.

Use Pharaohs Mask Elephant Ears in containers and the garden, wherever an exotic show is welcome. It looks fantastic in mass plantings and near the water’s edge around pools, fountains, and ponds. It makes a tremendous partner to other seasonal plants. Phararohs Mask Elephant Ears makes a fun houseplant. Indoors give it dappled sun, with consistent moisture, allowing the plant to dry out between watering. Pharaohs Elephant Ear can be treated as an annual or dug up and stored above freezing for the following season.

Growing instructions: Plant in full sun to part shade in soil that has been amended with compost or other organic matter. Keep the plant consistently moist. Plants produce prodigious growth and benefit from regular fertilization. In St. Louis, its tuber can be planted in the ground in mid-spring after the last frost date (in St. Louis, April 15). To get the plant off to a fast start, in late winter to early spring, plant the bulb in a pot and place it in a sunny window inside. Dig up tuber in the fall after the first frost and then overwinter in a cool dry location that does not go below 45 degrees. If grown in large containers, the containers should be brought indoors to a frost-free corner for overwintering (best to leave the tuber in the container rather than remove it). Plants may be propagated by dividing large tubers.