I'm betting the elephant ears are brought into cool storage after the first frost. They grow like weeds. I think I saw caster bean plants which will grow6-8 ft over a summer. It looked like those cold tolerant bananas which could be winterized in the ground pretty far north. Many of the elephant ears here in NC will winter over here and will put on that much growth in a season if you water, water water and feed feed feed. He did a great job putting it together.