Elephant Ears (Colocasia) cannot tolerate the freezing temperatures of z5. I think z8 and up are able to let them stay in the ground all year long. You can over winter them by lifting and storing them or bringing the containers inside. I'm also in z5 and still trying to find the best way to store them in winter. Here's a forum you might check out. Aroids

Are your potted bulbs outside by now getting sun and water? You're not really forcing them out of season, you're growing them in a pot. I'd give them a little time, but you can dig around a bit to see if the bulbs are still plump or if they dried up.

Thanks for your response. The Elephant Ears were never in freezing temperatures. They rotted right away. I planted them in spring and by summer they were gone. It might have been the bulbs? Not sure.

I will put the potted bulbs outside. They are not out yet as something I read said to gradually give them light. I will put them out when I get home from work. Thank you!

I found that it is hard for me to grow bulbs in pots even though I am zone 8b. It just seems that the pots really don't drain like they should. As for elephant ears, ours are later than usual coming up. Another gardening couple told us the same thing. Not sure why. Ours are finally up but only about 3 inches high when in past years they would have been close to waist high now.

I would hazard a guess the elephant ears rotted because they were over-watered or kept too wet too much. Or maybe just bad bulbs.

With the potted bulbs... did you just let them sit for the 4 months? Or did you make sure they were still being watered like they would be in the ground outside? If you left them to sit dry and dark for 4 months, you will likely need to check to see if they have withered away/gone bad. It's kind of past snowdrop season and getting into scilla bloom season, so neither one of those even popping up yet isn't a good sign.

Hi, Yes, the potted bulbs were covered in in my garage for 18 weeks. I watered them from time to time. I will check them.

For the Elephant ears... come to think of it, last spring here was annoyingly wet. I remember it wouldn't stop raining, so I became behind in all of my gardening. I bet you are right about the too wet part. Thanks! I didn't really remember that until you mentioned the too much water part.