Dioscorea elephantipes

We don't have a lot of flowers right now. (Actually we have one rose bud which has been trying to open for the last month or so and hasn't been hit by the couple of hard frosts we've had so far.) But even when we don't have flowers, we have the plants themselves. Our eyes are especially drawn to the pachyform plants such as this Dioscorea elephantipes.
This is the famous "Elephant's Foot" from southwestern South Africa. Not a difficult plant to grow if you remember to hold back on the water when the plant is dormant and the vine dies back during the heat of summer. Also, patience is a virtue as the plant isn't especially fast growing. But they'll live for up to 70 years in cultivation.

Dioscorea elephantipes

We've had this "Elephant's Foot" for a long time. It's seed grown and takes a while to get to the larger size. When we first started in this hobby some 40+ years ago, large collected specimens were readily available. I'm thankful that isn't the case any more. I know of far too many of those plants which bit the dust prematurely, all because we want to collect the largest plants we can. What a waste. It's much more satisfying to grow a beautiful and well-grown plant from seedling stage on.

When we first started growing these particular plants we were a bit over cautious with the water, fearing it would rot. What we finally realized, and confirmed with other growers, is that it likes adequate watering when it's in its growing stage. Just keep it drier when it's dormant.

Enjoy your plants!