Elephant Ear flower in Arizona in October

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One of the Elephant Ear plants here at Tropical Paradise is flowering again in the middle of October. This plant just flowered in June of this year. No one is more surprised than I am at how well the Elephant Ears do here. They originally came from a friend's garden in Los Angeles almost ten years ago where they were little tiny things that looked like ground cover. I had no idea what they were. But I planted them all over the place here, and while most of them died, a few lived, and thrived.

They like it here. But only where there is deep shade, rich soil, and lots of water. This flower, oddly enough, is facing towards the house. I took the photo by leaning out of my dining room window. I really don't know anything about these plants, except that the leaves are incredible, and the flower only lasts for a day or two.

These Elephant Ears grow to be over five feet tall, and the leaves can be over two feet long. They tend to burn around the edges in the summer, and they really, really, don't like the cold of the winter nights here in the desert. A couple of years ago they were knocked flat to the ground, but came back beautifully. Last winter was more mild, and they only lost a few leaves along the top to frost. This is what it looks like out my dining room window now -


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