Taro, the ancient staple that has nourished over 100 million people worldwide, brings both culinary heritage and dramatic foliage to your garden. This tuberous perennial grows 3 to 4 feet tall with extraordinary heart-shaped to arrowhead-shaped leaves reaching up to 2 feet long, earning its common name 'elephant ear' from their unmistakable silhouette. Hardy in zones 8 to 10, taro thrives in moist, rich soils and rewards patient growers with both a harvestable starchy corm and lush ornamental presence. While flowers appear during the warmer months (May through August), they remain largely inconspicuous, with the real drama coming from the conspicuously veined foliage.
Partial Sun
Moderate
8-10
48in H x 36in W
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High
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Taro commands attention with massive, peltate leaves that seem to glow with intricate veining, creating a tropical atmosphere in any garden. The plant's true gift lies in its dual nature: it's equally stunning as a foliage specimen near water features or rain gardens and equally valuable as a food crop, with starchy corms that can reach over a foot in length and tender young leaves also prized for cooking. Grown from corms or cormels rather than seed, taro establishes quickly in warm, consistently moist conditions and adapts beautifully to both ground cultivation and container life.
Taro serves dual roles in the garden and kitchen. The primary edible is the corm, a starchy underground stem that can exceed 12 inches in length and is boiled, roasted, or ground into flour across numerous cuisines. Young leaves are also harvested and cooked like spinach or incorporated into traditional dishes. Beyond food production, taro functions beautifully as an ornamental foliage plant, commanding attention in rain gardens, pond margins, and as a dramatic ground cover where its substantial leaves create tropical ambiance.
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Start taro from a corm, cormel (small offset corms), or even the top half-inch of a parent corm with 8 to 10 inches of attached leaf petioles about 8 weeks before your last frost date. Choose a warm location indoors or in a greenhouse and keep conditions consistently warm to encourage sprouting. Corms are prone to rot if kept too moist initially, so allow soil to dry slightly between waterings until growth is underway.
Transplant established taro plants or rooted corms outdoors after all danger of frost has passed and soil has warmed. Space plants 24 to 36 inches apart to accommodate mature spread. Harden off container-grown plants gradually over 7 to 10 days before moving them into their final garden location.
Harvest taro corms in fall after the plant has grown for a full warm season, typically 6 to 8 months after planting. Once the leaves begin to yellow and die back, carefully dig around the base of the plant and excavate the main corm along with any cormels that have formed as offsets. Young leaves may be harvested throughout the growing season by picking the outermost leaves from the base of the plant, leaving the center growing point intact for continued foliage production.
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“Taro's story spans millennia and continents. Probably first cultivated in the lowland wetlands of Malaysia, this crop reached India before 5,000 BC and was documented as an essential food in ancient Egypt. From there, it spread into ancient China and Indonesia, eventually traveling across the Pacific with Polynesians who carried it to islands throughout the region. Over centuries, taro became deeply woven into the food systems of tropical and subtropical cultures worldwide, cementing its role as one of humanity's most important staple crops.”