You can pretend you’re on a tropical island with the major award winner Waikiki Elephant Ears, Colocasia. It creates a fascinating spectacle as its ginormous leaves unfurl and change color. The leaves begin green with a purple back. As the leaves mature, they develop white center markings with pink that spreads into the veins, radiating outward like a starburst. Waikiki Elephant Ears’ long stems can grow 3.5′ tall. Plants mature into attractive clumps 3-5′ wide. Cooler weather brings out more coloration. Use it in pots alone or as a showy accent.

Keep Waikiki Elephant Ears moist and well-fed to see the most growth. Use this fast-growing plant as a thriller in containers or the landscape; anywhere an exotic show is welcome, it looks fantastic. 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. Waikiki Elephant Ears makes a fun houseplant.

All American Selections winner. All American Selections, AAS, is an independent, nonprofit organization that tests new varieties and introduces what it considers to be the best garden performers as AAS winners.

Indoors give it bright light, with consistent moisture, allowing the plant to dry out between watering.
Outdoors Waikiki Elephant Ear can be treated as an annual or dug up and stored above freezing for the following season.

Growing instructions: plant Waikiki Elephant Ears 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 (it is best to leave the tuber in the container rather than remove it). Plants may be propagated by dividing large tubers.