PLANT FINDER
Redemption™ Elephant Ear
Colocasia 'Redemption'
Height: 6 feet
Spread: 6 feet
Sunlight:
Hardiness Zone: 7a
Other Names: Cocoyam, Dasheen, Taro
Description:
An impressive tall variety with dark rosy-red stems, topped with huge jet black leaves with hot pink centers and veins; a stunning garden or pondside accent plant for a tropical look; shade from hot afternoon sun
Ornamental Features
Redemption™ Elephant Ear is primarily valued in the landscape or garden for its cascading habit of growth. Its attractive enormous glossy heart-shaped leaves remain black in color with distinctive hot pink veins throughout the season.
Landscape Attributes
Redemption™ Elephant Ear is an open herbaceous perennial with a shapely form and gracefully arching foliage. Its wonderfully bold, coarse texture can be very effective in a balanced garden composition.
This is a relatively low maintenance plant, and should be cut back in late fall in preparation for winter. It has no significant negative characteristics.
Redemption™ Elephant Ear is recommended for the following landscape applications;
- Accent
- Mass Planting
- General Garden Use
- Container Planting
Planting & Growing
Redemption™ Elephant Ear will grow to be about 6 feet tall at maturity, with a spread of 6 feet. It grows at a fast rate, and under ideal conditions can be expected to live for approximately 10 years. As an herbaceous perennial, this plant will usually die back to the crown each winter, and will regrow from the base each spring. Be careful not to disturb the crown in late winter when it may not be readily seen!
This plant does best in full sun to partial shade. You may want to keep it away from hot, dry locations that receive direct afternoon sun or which get reflected sunlight, such as against the south side of a white wall. It is quite adaptable, prefering to grow in average to wet conditions, and will even tolerate some standing water. This plant does not require much in the way of fertilizing once established. It is not particular as to soil pH, but grows best in rich soils. It is somewhat tolerant of urban pollution. This particular variety is an interspecific hybrid. It can be propagated by division; however, as a cultivated variety, be aware that it may be subject to certain restrictions or prohibitions on propagation.
Redemption™ Elephant Ear is a fine choice for the garden, but it is also a good selection for planting in outdoor pots and containers. Because of its height, it is often used as a 'thriller' in the 'spiller-thriller-filler' container combination; plant it near the center of the pot, surrounded by smaller plants and those that spill over the edges. It is even sizeable enough that it can be grown alone in a suitable container. Note that when growing plants in outdoor containers and baskets, they may require more frequent waterings than they would in the yard or garden.
Characteristics
Applications
Ornamental Features