Elephant ear begonia arrives from the hot, humid forests of southern Brazil with broad, distinctly hairy leaves and an impressively long flowering season. From June through November, it carries pendant clusters of white flowers edged with fine red hairs, a combination that reads as elegant from a distance and fascinatingly strange up close. Bees find it consistently. Reaching 12 to 18 inches tall with a similar spread, it makes a substantial hanging basket subject or a large container specimen for a shaded porch.

Like its Brazilian homeland, this plant demands humidity, warmth, and good drainage in equal measure. Indoors under filtered light it performs best, though it can handle some direct winter sun. A peat-based compost suits it well, kept consistently moist but never waterlogged. Pinching back the outer stems during the growing season produces a fuller, more compact plant with more flower sites. Temperature stability is important: sudden drops cause the leaves to fall, a dramatic response to what might seem a minor fluctuation. In zones below 10, it is grown as an annual or brought indoors before temperatures threaten. Division, stem cuttings, or seed all serve for propagation.