My that is an absolutely beautiful pond! Hopefulauthor, I don't want to sound like a know it all, but you have asked so many questions about 'elephant ears' I think I can help you understand about them a little more. 'Elephant ears' are Aroids. They are in the same general family with Philodendrons, Anthuriums, syngoniums, caladiums, etc. "Taro" are 'elephant ears'. Taro is a sort of a general term used for the edible tubers of elephant ears. Taro is a very important food crop worldwide. Its most commonly known as "poi" in Hawaii. Its also called dasheen and eddo. The type of taro most commonly used as a food source is COLOCASIA. In the ornamental plant trade and industry, there are really only three types that are used on a widespread basis in the USA: Colocasia, Xanthosoma, and Alocasia Of these three types, Colocasia and Xanthosoma are widely grown in water. Alocasia are more terrestrial. There are a couple of alocasias that will tolerate being grown in very wet conditions like standing water, many will not and will simply rot. Here is a series of photos of some of the plants I grow. There are a lot of them, I apologize, but I hope you will find them interesting and helpful. Almost all of these grow in my yard. They go dormant in winter whether they grow in the ground or in water, and come back every year. A very few of these I have to keep in my greenhouse, they would not make it outside here. You may see some here you might want to try sometime. I will split it into 3 separate posts. First, COLOCASIAS: This is a very small colocasia that I use as a ground cover. Its called Colocasia Fallax. It will grow in water or in the ground. It spreads very readily by overground stolons. It rarely gets over about a foot tall. This is a very large growing Colocasia cultivar called Nancy's Revenge. I grow this both in tubs filled with water and in the ground. It also spreads quickly and rapidly by overground stolons This is a relatively new colocasia to the plant trade, but it is actually one of the oldest forms in cultivation, having been one of the major varieties grown for decades in Hawaii as a food crop. This is a variegated colocasia called "Milky Way". The old Hawaiian name for it is "Elepaio". This type loves water and I grow it in water, and also in some of my flowerbeds in the ground. This is another variegated colocasia called "Yellow Splash". This variety is very beautiful, but the variegation can be a bit unstable. If you give it too much fertilizer, it will revert to all green. I grow this one mainly separate from all the others in its own tubs of water so that the can be grown "hard" (without fertilizer) to keep their variegation Here is one that is very readily available, this has been in the trade a long long time. Colocasia antiquorum "Illustris" (also known as "Imperial Taro"). I have these in many different places in my yard. The ones in this photo grow in a natural bog which alternates between being dry in periods of no rain and wet when we get adequate rain. These plants are about 5 feet tall with leaves that measure 12+ inches wide. The all green colocasia to the right is a large growing variety called colocasia "Ruffles". This is a "mixed" photo. The green ear is a Xanthosoma called "Lime Zinger" planted with Colocasia "Black Magic" for maximum contrast. These grow beside a small inground pond in the back yard. The smaller ear to the far left is Alocasia Culculatta. The COlocasia "in the distance" to the far right is Colocasia fontanessii, another definite water lover. This is a tub garden I have that has 3 different contrasting plants growing in it. The dark ear is Colocasia "Black Marble", then there is Colocasia "Yellow Splash" and Xanthosoma "Lime Zinger" And this is one of the newest colocasias on the market, it is called Colocasia "Tea Cups". The leaves are cpuued and point up, and hold water like a cup. This is a PARTICULARLY AQUATIC colocasia and loves water. I only grow it in water. It can get 6-7 feet tall.

My black magic have started to come up with small leaves. I'm pretty pleased that all three bulbs have shown life. It surprises me because none of my greens have grown yet and they're usually the first to make an appearance. I have one Illustris that has made an appearance, one silver leaf that has made an appearance (which surprised me because I thought they died off last summer. They really did not thrive at all for some reason), and quite a few of Chicago Harlequin. At least, that is what I think they are. The nursery claims they were CH but I don't believe they are. I planned to get rid of them come spring but I figured I'd give them a second chance. Since they have runners, I decided to put them in a pot this spring. My Nancy Revenge died off and I really have no interest in replacing it. mrsig - I can't help but wonder if you have Black Runner if leaves have popped up farther away. Black Magic clumps together while Black Runner sends runners to grow plants further away.

They want lots of food as well as water, and full sun. They grow fairly rapidly once the weather gets consistently hot--much as I love these nights in the fifties, they'll do better when they're in the sixties. I want to add, some people are really negative about elephant ears because SOME of them spread and are hard to get rid of (I have some of those too, so I sort of understand) Black Magic is a clumper and while the clump will get bigger I don't think it would ever be a problem, especially since your friends will want every offset you can pry loose from mama--and they can pry loose from you!

I recently put in the Kohler Irontones Smart Divide sink in black black because I love the look of cast iron and the black looked best with my black island and tropic brown countertop. I previously had a white island with the Kohler white executive chef sink, which I truly loved. It still looked great at 10 yrs old and I sold it. The black does show crumbs and grease easy, but the white showed stains of tea, spaghetti sauce, etc. It easily cleaned up with comet or soft scrub. I am a bit more careful with my black sink because I fear ir showing scratches or dings. I bought a black kitchaid mat at Target to put in my sink to protect. Would have bought the grids from Kohler, but wanted black and all they sell is SS for a black sink. Stange, but true. I believe they sell black for the deerfield sink. Either way I have become more cautious of lots of things since I found this forum, but have to remind myself that it is a sink that is to be used, not just for looks. By the way, Lysol cleaner shines the black right up. I do not dry my sink everytime I use it or I would have killed myself trying to make it look good with a family. I love the black, but probably would have chosen the executive chef style again as the small side doesn't hold much. My disposal is in that side and seems to backup in the other side if it gets too full of water on the small side. Both sides are the same depth. The small side on my executive chef was higher. Good luck in making your decision. It is one that is permanant for a few years.