rockdale..I have quite a few leaves but they're coming from multiple bulbs..I probably planted them closer to each other than what's recommended but I like it!..I'm hoping to get some Alocasias next year..

Ha, just found there is a flower on my potted Thai giant.

although not an aroid. My banana is doing well. Seems the hotter the merrier for them.:)

I've never had any EE flowers..mine might not get enough light to flower..that's true about most of my plants lol..oh well..I still love my trees..your banana is pretty!..

I had two flowers on my Pink China, but they dried out before they opened. Maybe next year...My new plants love the heat, I rearranged my stairs yesterday and will take new pictures later.

Rockdale - what variety of EE is your variegated one?

My EEs aren't doing so well this year. But one I gave away last year is. It is a standard Colocasia Esculenta. It gets about 50% sun/shade for about 2/3 of the day. 2 of them were separated from the main one in a pot and planted in the ground. One of those 2 is 65" tall as of yesterday:

Its largest leaf is 42" long (not as big as a Thai Giant):

This is it last year:

More pics of my Thai giant

The flower

My EE and caladium from Home Depot finally grow leaves

Jay, the EE is alocasia macrorrhizos variegated. Your leaves are large. :) mine is around 40"

Just want to show you guys the flowers of my Thai giant. They are like candles.Really enjoy this plant this year.

are the flowers on your Thai giant fragrant?..I don't know anything about Thai giants..

rockdale, great flowers! And caladium looks so nice with the EEs.

I had those flower buds on Pink China but they did not open and shrivelled away in the heat :-(

I'd love to have a Thai Giant or Jack's Giant, but there is no place in the garden where I could provide ideal conditions for it. And to keep it in a pot in summer until it is too big is not an option. I don't like to throw something living away...

Some leaves got yellow last week because we had a heatwave with temps over 35°C every day (38° was the hottest) and I watered morning and evening and even those pots in the saucers were dry when I came home from work.

Finally it has cooled down but no rain in sight...

Sorry, I should say the shape looks like candle. The flower does not have any smell. It is also the first I see EE flower in person.

We are having rain and a break on the temperature this weekend, hope you get some rain soon, Karin.

I moved one of my black EEs into a bigger pot..it was falling over..the bulb was exposed on the surface and growing sideways..I tried to loosen everything and straighten it..the stems are curved now..I tied them with a strip of T-shirt material to 2 bamboo stakes to hold them up..I'm hoping they'll stand up again..I have several runners..it was too dark to take any pics..I'm anxious to see how they look tomorrow..

It has been a nice day around 25°C and I was able to do a lot of work and take pictures of my new plants.

Colocasia Esculenta already had the second new leaf, it seems to get along better with the heat than Pink China.

Colocasia Esculenta

Xanthosoma saggitifolium

Colocasia Black Magic

Alocasia Calidora

Two new Pink China babies. They grow so quick, one day the sprout touches the water in the saucer and next day you can see tiny roots and a very small leaf. I cut the others from mama because I had to move the pot, but they are also growing nicely. I read a little about those plants and they should built up a bulb in autumn...

This is my biggest gardening adventure so far :-)

you jumped into growing EEs wholeheartedly!!..I understand..I love them too..EEs make hostas look small!!..when I was working with my black EE today I was surprised at how much it's grown..glancing out the window isn't the same as standing next to it..glad that your weather cooled down..I'll take some pics soon..

Sept 1 EE update:

These 2 Alocasia Macrorrhizos 'Black Stem' pups came from a parent plant last yr. One as a plant kept indoors all winter. And one as a bulb. The larger one might be the one kept in a pot all winter and it has a 34" leaf. It is about 4 1/2 ft tall. Soon I expect it to overtake the 2 yr old Borneo Giant that was kept growing in a pot all winter.

The parent bulb was 34 lbs when I dug it out last fall and then by January it was about 11-14 lbs when dry and all the roots & petioles cut off. It later rotted when I potted it. So I threw into into a compost pile and left it for dead when it was about 5 deg F out. But just last week I found that rotten bulb that I threw into the compost pile was growing again:

Alocasia Macrorrhizos 'Borneo Giant' that was kept growing in a pot all winter. It is about 5ft tall with a 36" leaf. I am mildly disappointed with its size after all this time. I will now recommend and prefer the Alocasia Macrorrhizos 'Black Stem' over this for size, Fall cold tolerance and growth speed:

This is my Colocasia Esculenta Black Stem. It was one of my top 2 tallest last yr and overwintered indoors as a plant, then a bulb. The one on the right is actually a Spring 2018 pup. And though you can't see it...the single corm is partly rotten with little white worms in it. This plant is only about 4 ft tall at this point:
Caladiums and an Illustris. The center Caladium is a Pink Symphony. It has replaced all of its leaves with more sun tolerant ones since I got it as a plant in the Spring:

LOVE your alocasias!..I'll get one someday..your caladiums get more sun than mine and look better..when my husband makes some plant stands I should try to find a bit more sun for them..some pics from this morning..

see some inground EEs in the background?..my caladiums need some clipping..glad they're all planted in my pots..love my curcumas..a dangling runner with a leaf..

Jay, they look gorgeous! I will try to keep my Alocasia Calidora inside, it is still young and will not need too much room...

nicholsworth55 - thanks. I can see your in-ground EEs too. Sometimes if we get a week of full sun the Caladiums lose a lot of leaves and those get replaced with smaller, thicker, more sun-tolerant ones.

Karin Black Cat - thanks. I don't think the EE in the center of your pic is an Alocasia. Alocasia leaves point upwards, sometimes sideways, and rarely down. It looks like some type of Colocasia. I know of one in a nursery that looks like yours. When I get time I'll see what it is named and try to get a pic for you.

Jay, you are right, I mixed up the pictures...this should be Alocasia Calidora...the other one is Colocasia Esculenta.

I have a 3 yr old Calidora with a small trunk (left in photos below). Except for the height the trunk gives it, it is smaller than the pups that came from it last year. Those pups were bulbs in bags of peat moss over the winter. They are on the (right):

For some reason with these plants the pups have a growth vigor that the older ones don't have.

This is the Borneo Giant in its 2nd season. It finally got an over 3 ft leaf. This one is 42" (1.06m). I flipped the photo sideways so it shows up here better:

There is a Colocasia Esculenta (AKA: Jack's Giant?) that I gave away last yr and I'm trying to get a recent photo of. It is much larger than the earlier pics of it in this thread from August 8, 2018.

jay..that's a big leaf!..I did a lot of clean up the last several days..all of the rain created a mess in my woodland..I've removed yellow and bent leaves from several EEs..I have just one stake supporting a single leaf on one of the black ones..maybe get a few recent pics tomorrow..

Time to do a little bit of pre fall cleanup...I'm working in the garden every free minute :-)

I brought one of my Colocasia Pink China to a friend who is a retired gardener and still has his greenhouses. So my chances to overwinter at least one are better...He gave me an Agave in return, so the number of pots is still the same :-)

Black Magic seems to be a good grower and is holding up the leaves much better than Pink China...

jay, I do hope that my Colocasia esculenta will have such big leaves in a few years!

that agave is pretty!..your Black Magic looks good too..we have a warm week ahead..I plan to work outside every day :-)

The forecast for this week says around 25°C and sunny...I only wish the sun would not go down so soon. It is already dark at 8pm...

I spent the whole weekend working in the garden and the result is an aching back :-(

Here are a few nice pictures I took during the breaks...

Colocasia Midori sour

Newly painted hosta stairs

Xanthosoma sagittifolium,Colocasia White Lava and Midori sour hiding under the nice red stems of Colocasia Black Magic

Nice contrast, Colocasia Black Magic and yellowing hosta Jaws

Back from Colocasia Black Magic in morning sun

Colocasia esculenta

Alocasia Calidora

Canna

He's watching every step I take :-)

I enjoyed your photos as always :-) the color on your Black Magic is so pretty!..is Black Magic your tallest EE?..your canna's pretty too..just like you it gets dark here a lot earlier than a few weeks ago..I took these pics last night and used a flash..the colors look faded..I don't need stakes on my 2 black EEs now..some lower leaves are permanently droopy but I want the nourishment for the plant so I'm leaving them..I clipped my hibiscus tree (behind the biggest pot of EEs)..just now I see a branch on the right that needs a little snip..the branches were taller than the edge of the roof..we found a leak under our kit sink this morning :-( my husband fixed it but it took time to repair it and clean up..I helped him and it wrecked my garden plans..I hope there's no unpleasant surprises tomorrow..your cat makes the funniest faces!..it's sweet that he follows you around..

Update: My Borneo Giant is now 6ft 9in (2.06m). You can see it above in the September 13, 2018 post. I'll try to get a recent pic posted soon.

Karin Black Cat - do you have more pics of your Xanthosoma sagittifolium?

jay..will you bring Borneo Giant inside in a pot for the winter?..it's almost too tall to bring in!..

jay, here are some other pics of my Xanthosoma...

The day I got them...

maybe three times bigger now...

The colour is dark green, totally different from the Colocasia...

Ann, your kitchen will surely be crowded this winter! I'm a little overwhelmed by their size right now. Inside they are a totally different dimension. Good that I already ordered a new bed, so I will be able to realize my plan with the new plant room end of October. Until then I have to manage as best as I can :-)

Black Magic will life on the kitchen table for a while so I can enjoy such nice views...

I need to repot it today, the roots already come out under the small pot...

While I had been at work yesterday the storm had worked on the roots of my big Pink China. It had ripped off all the small roots and so I took it out of the pot and decided to cut away the leaves and let it dry. It had one nice baby that I can keep and as Im not short with Pink China I will see what happens with the big one. It has a nice tuber already and I think I can reroot it next spring.

Karin..I AM concerned about the plants filling up the kitchen :-( but I will just have to live with it..when I dug up Jack's Giant last fall the tubers had roots attached which I didn't disturb..at planting time after soaking the tubers the roots fell off in the water..the tuber had no roots when I planted it and the EEs were just fine..I bet yours will be too..at least the damage happened late in the season..the color of your Xanthosoma leaves is very attractive..to me it has a hint of blue..

nicholsworth55 - I'm not sure what I'll do with my EE indoors this winter. I now have access to a sun room but it's an hr drive away. I may keep one there. I might not keep any indoors at my home because for me they just get smaller each month and I don't want to deal with Fungus Gnats again. I also have some Philodendrons and Pothos that will be competing for the brighter windows. I didn't have those last year.

Karin Black Cat - thanks for the Xanthosoma pics. I saw what I thought were Xanthosomas at the Orlando, FL airport in the summer and they were the largest EE's I've ever seen. They were between 7 1/2ft - 8ft tall. The leaves were not shiny like Alocasias and had no sheen like Colocasias. Most of the leaves pointed sideways and some pointed upward like Alocasias:

My Borneo Giant that is now 6ft 9in (2.06m) tall with a 6ft ruler:

Pics from today of the Colocasia Esculenta (Jack's Giant?) that is 61" tall and has a largest leaf size of 32w"x42h". It is also blooming. There are about 7 white inflorescences in various stages. I don't recall ever seeing one of these bloom. This one I gave away. It overwintered in an ice cold garage in the same pot it was growing in during the summer of 2017:

jay..winter is a headache isn't it?..I dread it..no matter how careful you are plants inside are messy..but I can't let them die!..if I only had a sunroom..I would take advantage of the sunroom you have access to if I were you!..the size of your EEs boggles my mind..

Jay, I read that Xanthosoma get really big, but I doubt that they will reach their full size in the german climate. This summer had been very hot and I had them under the umbrella most of the time. I was surprised how nicely they grew but I'm a beginner and will see with the years what is realistic.

I bought plants from four different sellers and all told me that I can overwinter the Colocasia in a cool room in sawdust. But young plants do better in pots.

They cut away the outer leaves and let them shrivel away until there is nothing else than the dry hard tuber.

I remember well how exciting it had been to grow them from nothing more than a woodlike ball.

Those are the remains of big Pink China. I cut the leaves as I have seen in a youtube video...

Yes. Winter is a headache. Last yr I didn't bring some of my EE in until a freeze in the teens killed them. That may have weakened the corms. I'll try to bring them in after the 1st-3rd frosts this year. Even after all the failures I'm pleased with how well they all did outdoors this year.

I just now added a pic above of the Colocasia Esculenta blooms.

The Xanthosomas I saw at the airport were in full tropical sun and in the ground by a man-made waterfall.

These 2 links show what some of us did last year for EE and Caladium corms. Mine were in bags of peat moss in my basement. About 95-99% of my Caladiums corms made it through the winter and about 7 of 10 of my EE corms did. The smaller EE corms didn't do as well as the large ones. It also shows some in pots:

[https://www.houzz.com/discussions/challenges-of-overwintering-colocasia-as-houseplants-dsvw-vd~4937566?n=51[(https://www.houzz.com/discussions/challenges-of-overwintering-colocasia-as-houseplants-dsvw-vd~4937566?n=51)

[https://www.houzz.com/discussions/ees-rewarded-me-this-year-dsvw-vd~4953630?n=62[(https://www.houzz.com/discussions/ees-rewarded-me-this-year-dsvw-vd~4953630?n=62)

I remember these threads!..I WILL take a good look at them again..I've read to dig after the frost kills the foliage but I didn't wait for a freeze to dig last year..but even though I dug mine a little early the soil was COLD..just my opinion but I think everyone has a few gardening failures..your EEs and caladiums are a complete success in my opinion :-) they're beautiful..

jay,

thank you for bringing up those threads. That's a lot of useful information. I will go through it again and then see what I will do.

Normally I'm an 'experimental' gardner and this winter will be one of my bigger experiments :-)

I will keep the small Colocasias and the Alocasia in pots and dry not to overwater them and the Pink China is still in soil now but will not be watered anymore. The people in the other video kept it like this for four weeks, then cleaned it a little and put it in sawdust in the basement. But I think my basement is too warm due to the heating system, so I will store it in my soon finished cool plant room.

The room will have temperatures around 10°C and a lot of light from a south facing window, so I will put a pot over the pulp and only lift it for ventilation at night. I hope that works...

And if not,,,there will be others I can buy next year. I don't want to worry too much, plants have to be fun after all.

Your big plants are awesome but I think I do not want to dig them out of the ground, so I will buy a few big pots for next year...

It is raining today and the forecast says cold so I'm glad that I have brought them in with dry leaves and stems.

One thing that nobody mentioned so far...those plants are dropping water like a leaky kitchen faucet...I need to get a wax cloth for my wooden table...

See the bowls under each leaf...

The result of 15 minutes dropping...We had a bad storm right now and I will have to take care of a lot of things tomorrow, not the best holidays so far...

I hope your holiday gets better..I planted 5 ferns today and we did some stone edging..the forecast says rain Mon and Tues..I just realized what I was seeing in your last pic..that storm was nasty..I found this about dripping plants..I've never noticed any of mine dripping..

I've seen droplets on plants through the years, but the EEs are still dropping...One leaf of Xanthosoma has produced around a teaspoon full of water during the night...Maybe it's the combination of the strange weather, high humidity in the air and humidity in the pots...When they were outside they consumed so much water and now the soil in the pots needs to dry a little. I will stop watering for a few days and see what happens...

It has stopped raining but the wind is still strong...the hosta pots did well in the wind, only that wooden sun protector fell and with it some pots, but that only means repotting a few hosta later. And I need to bring this wooden monster in the shed because I think it might happen again or maybe put some weight in the flower box...I wanted to paint it the next days...

Which ferns did you plant? I bought a Proliferum plumosum densum this summer, it is really nice...

yesterday's work..this is at the top of the slope near the back of the property..the bare spot in the center has 2 bleeding hearts which have now completely disappeared for this season..when the ferns grow I hope it's disguised a bit..my new plantings look terrible surrounded by bricks etc but I try to stop the squirrels :-( ..there's wild ginger growing in here that I left for the moment..your new fern is beautiful..I love ferns..I think my potted plants aren't as well watered as yours which could be why I've never noticed dripping..we had some light rain but it's dry now so I'm going outside..enjoy your day :-)

nicholsworth55 - I like the rocks. Worn with moss and maybe lichens. Are they from your yard? I pay about $15.50 per 100 lbs (45 kg) of loose rock like that but with no moss or lichens. In the past when available I've paid $15 per rock with lichens on them. In a former home I had too many rocks like that and spent several hours per month stacking them in piles.

While I'm off-topic, last week I got some pics of ferns growing out of cracks & seams in rocks.

These are mature and young Purple Cliff Brake Ferns along the Shenandoah River and Potomac River confluence in MD:

A few Purple Cliff Brake Ferns growing with some type of Bulbet(?) Ferns in the same area. As well as young and spore-bearing mature Bulbet(?) Ferns. I haven't figured out what type of fern that is yet. The Purple Cliff Brake is an evergreen. I'm not sure if the other one is but it probably isn't. Most evergreen ferns in my region have darker, thicker, and waxy-looking leaves:

These are Sensitive Ferns along a north-facing wall at my home in June. They are volunteers. I must have about 2 doz babies growing around it this year with all the rain. They are not evergreens:

These remind me of the tropical Philodendron Selloum. I have Christmas Ferns as well (evergreens) but rabbits ate most of their leaves this year. They didn't in previous years. Now they are just stem spikes sticking out of the ground.

thanks jay!..I love rocks..some of it was here..some came from my old house..some from my neighbor here..some from a neighbor of my parents..we're using it to edge our paths..years ago the rock we bought was 32 cents a pound..they weigh you in your vehicle when you drive thru the gate..you go in load the rock..then weigh on the way out..you paid half what we did right?..15.50 vs 32.00 for 100 lbs..not sure what it would cost today..your pics of rocks and ferns are great..wouldn't they look perfect in my woodland garden?..pics from a certain spot facing west..#1 on the right..#2 on the left..since those pics were taken I've planted hostas behind the rocks..looking forward to see the plants grow..

Your pictures of rocks and ferns give me new ideas for next year :-) When I'm driving around with my bicycle in fall or spring I always find nice stones on the fields. This week I brought home a nice big piece of sandstone and maybe I work on it during winter to plant a few succulents in spring. I will try to find more to make a kind of cover for the cement stones of my plant stairs. I could plant ferns on the side that is in shade and succulents on the sunny side. Picture is already in my mind :-)

The EEs have stopped dropping, maybe they had to adjust to indoor climate...now I need a few decorative plants to cover the long stems, started with Calathea Maui Queen and will try to find something hanging and a fern in the supermarket today. Then it will look nice enough to stay in the kitchen over winter. My guests already know that I'm a little crazy...

The stones in the background are my foto studio for succulents....I collected stones a few years ago and they are a nice deco for the plants now.

The meadows had been white yesterday and day temperatures are only around 10-15°C. I'm glad that I brought all plants in that need winter protection.

Only the Canna is still outside and is pretending it's summer.

And some hosta are flowering late...

Marilyn Monroe and Frisian Waving Steel

cloudy and cool today..not quite as cool as at your house..your EE leaves are so perfect :-) ..mine are tattered..rain..wind..birds..falling debris..squirrels..and yesterday a chipmunk sitting in the pot!..I tapped on my glass door and it jumped down..pics today..

these pics don't convey how large this feels..a new leaf coming..it'll be prettier when these lower leaves are gone but I've been patient for the nutrition of the plant..my other one has 9 new leaves (1 is hidden in the pic)..my pinecones didn't stop the animals at all!..I'll leave the ratty leaves to produce food for the plant sigh..just a thought..will plants at the base of your EE interfere with new leaves?..I don't have any flowering hostas..fall is coming soon..will be fun to see your rock, fern and succulent mini gardens..

I typed a 2 paragraph response yesterday but my computer locked up & lost it before I could post it. Anyway - it was 57 F (14 C) yesterday and I brought my houseplants indoors for the first time this year. They are mostly Philodendrons and Pothos.

nicholsworth55 - I'd pay double to get the longer rocks like you have. They look somewhat like old curbs in historic districts.

Karin Black Cat - does "meadows had been white" mean you got snow or frost? Sometimes when I'm out working in my gardens I stare at people that I think are crazy for not appreciating plants like I do.

This is the EE/Caladium planting next to a culvert that just had 2 new rows of rocks added to keep the mulch from washing away. 2 days ago we had another flood and I came out in the storm to look at it and all worked as planned. Next year I might plant some ferns that grow on cliffs in the rock crevasses:

jay..I like the size of our stones too..when they were offered it was a definite YES..here's our 7 day forecast..cool nights but I'm not bringing plants in yet..

I don't want them inside any sooner than I have to lol..

Jay, we had the first frosty nights this week but no snow. That's soon but the whole weather is crazy...Still not enough rain...The days are sunny and the sky is incredibly blue and people without plants or gardens might love it that way. I brought in all the houseplants which normally spent the summer outside, the Agave and Aloe getting bigger and heavier each summer and it gets a little crowded by now...But everything will be ok when my plant room is reayd, maybe mid of October.

I like your stone planters and ferns surely would look good together with the EEs.Might add to the already tropical look. I want to combine mine with a few of my bigger hosta next summer.

Ann,I don't think that plants on top of the big Colocasia pots might effect new growth. The big leaves come from the middle and new babies will find their way to light :-) I put them not directly on the pot but on small wooden planks because I don't want to have problems with mildew...

It's time to collect some hosta seed, mostly for others but a few I might keep for myself...

it's late (almost 1) but I'm up lol..was looking at spider pics..there's a big one outside my kit window..too dark to confirm an ID..I wasn't sure if a plant in the EE pot would be a problem so I mentioned it..I'm sure you know what to do..that plant grouping in the pic above looks so nice :-) in the hosta forum there's a thread with EE links if you want to take a look..it's called "My friend wants to know if her hostas are OK"..

I have a spider invasion this year...when I was young i did not like them...but gardening taught me about their usefullness...this one is having a meal...caught a wasp...but I don't know the name either...

not a good pic..there's more pattern on the spider than I thought..it was dark last night..the web is making quite a mess..