One idea would be to design around an elephant ear using a big pot with an elephant ear and a group of other plants, but after some reading, it appears that the elephant ear root would probably fill up the entire pot, so I should use a separate pot for the ears.

Any idea of some sort of grouping? Wouldn't the elephant ear make the yard look unbalanced due to its size?

Paul

I would probably plant some fern (maidenhair, Japanese painted, Ghost - not any of the really huge ones); Japanese golden grass (Hakonechloa macra 'Aureola') or blood grass (Imperata cylindrica); creeping Jenny (Lysimachia nummularia 'Aurea'); Siberian Bugloss (Brunnera macrophylla 'Jack Frost' or 'Looking Glass' or any other depending on color combo you want); black mondo grass (Ophiopogon planiscapus 'Nigrescens'). So many more possibilituies - really depends on the overall look&color combo you like.

I personally like something trailing from the container, and balance/contrast the size & shape of leaves. Elephant ear could grow large if given optimum conditions, but hard to judge what is balanced/unbalanced for your situation: size of your display area-container, and many other variables.

Rina