Plant Min Zone: 5b
Plant Max Zone: 11a
Sunlight: Part Sun
Water / Rainfall: Average, High, Very High
Soil Quality: Average, Rich
Bloom Season: Summer
Flower Color: Light Pink, Cream
Berry / Fruit Color: None
Spring Foliage Color: Dark Green, Purplish Black
Summer Foliage Color: Dark Green, Purplish Black
Fall Foliage Color: Dark Green, Purplish Black
Evergreen Foliage: No
Winter Interest: No
Scented Flowers: No
Drought Tolerance: Low
Wet-Feet Tolerance: High
Humidity Tolerance: High
Wind Tolerance: Low
Poor Soil Tolerance: Clay Soils
Height: 4' - 7'
Width: 4' - 6'
Growth Rate: Fast
Service Life: Medium: 3-5 years
Maintenance Need: Medium
Spreading Potential: High
Yearly Trimming Tips: Trim Perennial to Ground Around First Fall Freeze: No Winter Interest.
Plant Grouping Size: Specimen Planting of 1-3, Small Grouping of 3-5
Best Side of House: South Exposure, West Exposure, East Exposure
Extreme Planting Locations: Base of Retaining Wall Locations, Resistant to Rabbits
Ornamental Features: Multiple Seasons of Interest, Large Tropical Foliage / Flowers, Exceptional / Colorful Foliage
Special Landscape Uses: None
Possible Pest Problems: None
Plant Limitations: Aggressive Rhizomes / Runners, May get Occasional Winter-kill, Needs Thick Winter Mulch, Needs Regular Irrigation, May be Poisonous
Big Dipper Hardy Elephant Ear (Colocasia gaoligongensis 'Big Dipper') are typically grown for their large tropical foliage and black stems. The plants are temperate and subtropical herbaceous perennial bulbs native to areas with a summer monsoon season and dry winter. Big Dipper Hardy Elephant Ear is hardy outside as a perennial when established and with minimal effort at least up to zone 6a. During the growing season, fertilize, water regularly, and plant in full sun. Plant these bulbs in the ground at least 3-6" deep with 3-4" of mulch. Foliage may look bedwraggled by fall if drought stressed so it is ok to cut back foliage at that time. Plants spread by running ryizomes but are easy to pull up if undesired. They can also be grown as a flowering summer patio plant. If growing as a potted plant and trying to overwinter, allowing the foliage to frost is ok, it will not kill the root system. However, do not allow the pot with rootball to freeze solid or go below 20 degrees for more than a few hours; move into a cold garage or basement over the winter with no watering. Cut back and allow to go dormant and place entire pot back out in April or May with a time-release fertilizer. If digging from the ground in colder zones, just save a big chunk with the dirt intact and place into a large pot in the garage. In our display garden in Lawrence, KS (zone 6a), several established specimens planted over 4-6" deep and mulched 2-3" with wood mulch survived -17 degrees F. During the arctic blast of February, 2021, lows down to -17 degrees F on Feb 16th, 2021 were recorded. The longevity of this cold blast was also impressive: 10 days on a row with highs of 10-15 degrees F or lower, 8 nights of lows in the single digits and negatives, and 36 straight hours of 0 degrees F and mostly lower. This plant can also be used as a marginal aquatic plant growing in shallow water. It can also grow as a bog plant needing constantly moist soil rich in organic matter. As a rain garden plant, it will thrive is a depressed area in the landscape that collects rain water from a roof during spring and summer periods of rain but then go dormant if the water hole dries out completely