Do you have Elephant's Ears?

Costa Rica is the source of these Colocasia or Elephant's Ears tubers, reassuringly labelled as from a sustainable source. This will be my second attempt at growing them, last years tubers which were half the size and twice the price of these specimens simply rotted in their pots. Even amongst the consignment I selected these two bulbs from there was evidence of mould on some of the tubers.

Planted out of the wind the Elephant's Ears should provide an exotic keynote in this years display. I would like to have a tropical garden but gardening for us, both in cool and windy north eastern England and hot and even more windy north east Spain, means that large leaved plants can be something of a liability. So we will try to create a corner of the garden where our more exotic plants can flourish.

Medley of Nicotina flowers

This is the range of Nicotina flowers we have near to the front of the villa their perfume fills the evening air. Once established they are quite tough , in daytime the flowers are closed and the leaves often curl up with lack of water. Give them a little water though and they give a non stop flower show from early summer till winter.

The plants are vigorous and form tubers underground and are therefore able to store water and survive dry periods. Nicotinas are also prolific self seeders and can take over if not kept in check.