the plant stands and pots are in place for now (could change someday lol)..the view from the kitchen window..the chairs will keep the narrow stands (though sturdy) from falling..I wish winter would never come..

Thanks Karin..your nice comments remind me of how blessed I am to live surrounded by nature..I'm enjoying the view from the kitchen so much!!..I love having the pots where I can see them so well..my black EEs are looking much better..in one pic a leaf seems yellow but it's the sunlight hitting the backside..my black ones had runners last winter when inside..I wondered then if I should repot it..but I didn't have a bigger pot or soil..and what a mess to do it inside..so I did nothing and they dried out and died..I don't know the answer to save yours..anxious to see what happens..mine didn't have the roots and leaves that yours do..I wonder if eventually you could cut that off and plant it?..the stems of the EE in the turquoise pot in the last pic remind me of my Jack's Giants..I think that's going to get big..Pink China is big too!..a beautiful weekend here..I'm planning to work outside of course lol..

The EE you mean is Colocasia Esculenta, I don't think it will get as Big as Jacks Giant :-) That one would fill my garden all alone...

I love the leaves when they are backlit by the sun, the veins remind me of spider nets...

Alocasia Calidora

all of my EEs (3 varieties) are colocasia esculentas too..I would love to have an Alocasia Calidora..they're harder to find here..your Pink China is almost touching that umbrella..

Just a little update on my babies :-) They grow so quick, you can almost watch them get bigger every day. They already show a second leaf and nice roots.

Someone on fb told me to let them grow directly into a smaller pot without cutting them first, so they get assistance from the mother plant and can grow nice roots. I bought two new stairs and will try to create a space for all those plants this weekend :-)

those runners are quickly turning into plants!..that's an interesting method to keep them growing..in a way you're simulating a piece of ground with an adjacent pot next to the original pot..we had 2 days of steady rain (Mon & Tues)..everything was saturated..I could finally go out today..the plants look fresh but the squirrels have been climbing and chewing on everything on the deck..I found the curcuma flower and several leaves on the stairs..a bent stem on my canna in the blue pot..some leaning plants in the small pots on the stands..a dusty miller ripped from a pot and laying on the deck rail..dirt scattered around..it was so disappointing..I hope that tomorrow I'll be in the mood to fix the mess and start working again..I was thinking of all of you as it rained..

Tose squirrels really make a mess of all your efforts...They are so cute outside, but bad guys hiding inside...We had 38°C this week and I'm really sick from the heat. Stress in the office on top and no chance to work in the garden :-( But the tropicals are growing like crazy...

the squirrels look so cute when they come up to us but I'm ready to stop putting out peanuts..the squirrels will still be here but IF they're around a lot less my plants should have less damage..sorry that it's still so hot and that you have stress at work :-( I'm so glad that you're EEs are such a success..I hope both of us have a wonderful weekend :-)

Great job ladies, I think you both have beautiful plants !!!!

pics this morning after some rainy days..

squirrel "gardening"..the leaves on my black EEs are getting a little darker..probably not enough sun to get completely dark..I read they need sun (after I bought them lol)..I love this pot..just a coleus and a few EE leaves but I love it..my west side EEs..there's debris on every leaf..this place gets to me sometimes sigh..a small piece of bulb that I didn't expect much from..it would have 3 leaves but the squirrels "helped"..next year it deserves a pot..my most impressive..this hydrangea lost several stems..a tree limb hit it..but it's blooming and I like it..that's the end of the show for today haha..

Karin..I saw a report on the news about the heat in Europe..of course I knew about it from Gardenweb..a screenshot about weather in Germany..

the report showed a map with temps in the 100's (Fahrenheit)..your weather is normally not as hot in summer or as cold in winter..nicer than mine :-) ..we spent yesterday removing branches ..as my husband cut I clipped the small branches off for composting..we filled 3 trash cans of pieces too big to chip..our neighbor saw the mess and offered his cans - we own just 1..so I still need to plant sigh..

Ann, this is definitely the hottest summer of my life! We had a similar one in 2003, but it was not so long and with more rain. Normally beginning of August the temperatures are around 25 and the nights already get cold. But we had over 35 all week long and I just had a look at my inside thermometer and it is still 28 :-( I never liked heat and hope this will soon be over...I would have loved to divide some plants, but I will postpone it to next spring...

But I should stop complaining, at least we do not have forest fires as other european countries, have you heard about the tragedy in Greece and all the burning forests in Sweden? And it is still going on like this for more than a week :-(

It's already dark now at 5 in the morning, otherwise I would go out now and do as much work as I can, but I have to wait another hour.

warm here today - 90 (equals 32..) but not as hot as what you have..35 ugh..I wasn't aware of the problems in Greece and Sweden..I'll look it up..it's hard not to complain about relentless heat..parts of the US have extreme heat and fires..so sad..enjoy your morning..

what a horrible situation..I read several articles..saw some pics..and there's no relief coming soon..I saw that Finland and Norway have record heat..I think of those places as having cold weather..I thought of Saija..the world is a mess..

The whole world seems to be upside down...30°C at the polar circle, never heart of this before. And there are still people saying everything is ok...Our company has production units in China, there it is raining for months now and everything is rotting and moulding...

I had to come inside, it is already hotter than I can stand and it is only 10 a.m. ...but here are the promised pictures of the babies...two had already long enough roots to try my luck with the pots...

I potted those two as was suggested and did not cut the connection with mama :-)

And in case it goes wrong there are more in the waiting line...

My little helper is also not pleased with the heat...he is loosing so much hair I have to comb him every day.

This leaf grew during the week on Colocasia Esculenta

Alocasia Calidora also seems to like it's new homeWhile I sit and drink coffee I have this view to my left

and this to my right :-)

great pics!..I wish I could join you for coffee :-) my husband is still sleeping..I'm having coffee and trying to decide which gardening job to tackle first..there's so many..that EE of yours needs the world's biggest pot!..so many runners..I'd be curious to know how many leaves you have now..and they're big too..did the EE leaves pass Blue Angel's?..what's the big plant to the right of the cat with palmate (correct term?) leaves?..I think it has a tropical look and I like it with the EEs..aren't you glad to have gardening to take away some of the chaos in the world?..I think? it helps me Lol..

Yes, the biggest EE leaf is bigger than one of BA. But BA is not normal this year. All my hosta have smaller leaves due to the heat and reduced watering. A lot of the small ones might struggle in winter...but I won't worry too much, they are only plants and can be replaced by something new.

That little tree is a fig tree. Got it from our local gardener in exchange for a nice chunk of my scadoxus.

I divided the scadoxus last year, but it looks as if nothing ever happened...

I love those flowers...last year it had some streaked leaves.

I can hear thunder in the distance and thick clouds roll in, I hope they bring rain...

Have fun in the garden!

I was thinking a split leaf philodendren or fig but decided to ask instead of looking..so now I'll look up the fig and the scadoxus!..I hope you get a good rain and some cooler temperatures..time to get busy..

This is my 2nd try posting this. I'll cut back on the pics this time to see if it helps. Anyway, we've had so much rain this warm season that even the fungus on a rotting log has algae or moss in it. I haven't seen that before - it's in a mostly sunny location:

The rain killed my Thai Giant and is rotting the corm of my main 3 y/o C. E. 'Black Magic'. My 'Tie-Dye' Swamp Mallow Hibiscus loves the rain and is almost as big as it was last year. And that's after a late winter transplant - here a coffee saucer is shown to gauge size:

C. E. 'Black Magic' on left and Borneo Giant on right:

A. Calidora and Borneo Giant pup. My EEs grew so slow that I had to make a shade for my 2 prize Caladiums:

My 2 prize Caladiums: A Thai strain and a Rubicundum (right center):

Here is a Brandywine Caladium and a C. E. Illustris in an antique milk can. The C. E. Illustris has only one small leaf in the left center:

This is a Postman Joyner and a Pink Symphony. The Pink Symphony is one I've wanted for almost 2 yrs:

jay..I saw this quote in a book.."gardening is heartbreaking"..sorry about your lost plants but you still have so many great ones!!..your fungus is doing well haha..I'll post pics when I take some..I'm way behind..

Karin Black Cat - when I left the runners on my largest Colocasia last year it seemed to grow taller. Not sure if it was a coincidence or not.

Nicholsworth - your EEs are huge. I've had a Fig/Ficus before and it grew well indoors but it wasn't a Fiddle Leaf Fig which are popular now. If you do try a Philo, also consider a Pothos which are correctly named: Epipremnum aureum. Also consider a Monstera Deliciosa. I have one of those now. All but the fig remind me of EEs and they are Aroids. The best part is that you can under-water them and they don't need direct sun. So they should be great plants indoors in the winter.

This is my combo pot of Epipremnum aureum (AKA: Pothos) and vining Philodendrons. It's actually my holding area for giveaways. The leaves are 3 1/2 to 4 1/4" long. Listing in clockwise order from the left center, this is what is in the pot:

1) Philodendron cordatum (dark green)

2) Epipremnum aureum 'neon'

3) Philodendron 'brasil' (green/yellow variegation)

4) Epipremnum aureum 'golden' (yellow speckles)

After seeing some Epipremnum aureum 'golden' in FL with leaves that looked like EEs and sized them them, I found one on a totem stick that took a tumble and got it for half price. I reassembled it so it is stronger and will add another 1 foot to the stick. I'm hoping its leaves will grow to EE size:

This is a closeup of its larger top leaf which is 7 1/2" long. When they get that size they look to me like EE leaves:

jay..I just took screenshots of your last comment for reference..I'm not familiar with these plants but I love them!..I've been buying planters on sale at Lowes for future tropicals..check their website..I've enjoyed that big pot of EEs..some of my inground ones are leaning..the potted one has less animal "visits" and less soil loss..I started this year with only 1 big pot..after trying EEs in it (no plan when I bought it) I want more pots for EEs..now I have 7..already looking forward to next year..