I have this beautiful elephant ears on my patio which grows like a beast! I live in the Central Coast/NSW/Australia, which has a humid temperature. I will be moving to the Blue Mountains, which falls to below 50 Fahrenheit/ 10 Celsius in winter. I have read that she can/can't survive these cold temperatures, and that if I keep her potted/sheltered/out of the rain/wind, and mulched she could survived. Totally confused! I would like to plant her in the garden eventually, as she is just non stop growing and has flowered/pollinated at least 3 times in the past 6 months. I'd hate for her to die if the new conditions aren't suitable for her, so would rather give her away then move her and see that happen. So, can anyone share their knowledge with me as to whether I can take her to a colder environment and leave her potted, transplant her into the garden in the Blue Mountains, or even cut her back and keep her bulbs ready for next summer. Really don't want to cut her though as she is a mature plant and I would hate to see her majesticness taken away. Thanks in advance. Steph

Don't cut it unless it gets frost (36 F or 0 C)
I have related tropicals, I leave them out below 50F every year, no problem.
And if your did get touched by frost, it should survive. It doesn't die of feeling chilly, it would die of tissue death caused by freezing- like people feeeling chilly VS getting frostbite.

Thanks Sally. That makes sense. Perhaps I will take her afterall!

Well, just an observation, is it an "elephant ear", or is it a philodendron?
It has to be one or the other, it can't be both. They are 2 different plants altogether, and their cold tolerance is also quite different.

Your plant looks great. You can take it and leave it in the pot or plant it in the garden. It is a survivor. You can also protect it from freezing winds in winter by planting other plants around it that are hardy to frost. Good luck.

It looks like an Alocasia or Xanthosoma to me.

It looks like an alocasia to me too.

Most alocasias will survive the 50's but it's not a great thing to have it go on for prolonged periods of time. Some will just go dormant in the 50's. Whether it will survive cooler temps like the 50's and below also depends on if the winter is wet, or dry. Dry winter is best, if the plant does go dormant or gets the top growth killed back by frost or freeze, the tubers left in the ground fare better in dry conditions and may rot it wet conditions. Usually alocasias knocked back by cold in winter will come back, but sometimes it's like starting over. I personally would keep it potted through one or even 2 winters, to see reliably how cold it really gets and for how long, before I planted it out

Good added info, thanks, folks! I didn't really think of or know about actually wintering though, as mine get brought in and dry- dormant after their somewhat limited exposure.

I have a big Alocasia that goes dormant every winter for 3-5 months, but the foliage is not damaged until there's a hard frost. 50F does not cause damage.

It depends on the alocasia. Some are hardier than others when it comes to cold. I've found that my Alocasia macrorhizza albo-variegata will suffer damage at 50 and below, whereas my Alocasia wentii, Alocasia portodora, Alocasia odora, Alocasia gageana, Alocasia machrorhizza plain green, and Alocasia Kuching Mask and the other Kuching series do not. Alocasia plumbea nigra 'Metallica' also is not happy at prolonged temps of 50 and into the 40's and just disappears and goes dormant... neither is Alocasia 'Serendipity happy. So I take those into the greenhouse in winter. And my Regal Shields is more cold sensitive, most likely from the Alocasia reginula 'Black Velvet' parentage.
All alocasia are NOT created equal, just as not all Philodendrons and Anthuriums and many of the plants and hybrids that are specific to tropical AUSTRALIA where the OP is from, and which are not available here in the USA, are adapted to a very specific climate. There are high elevation species that can be totally happy at 50 and even 40, but lower elevation species and hybrids, maybe not so much.

My best advice to you is to talk to locals who live in the area you are moving to. I know a lot of aroidists that live in the more tropical parts of Australia, aroidists are kind of like a club, like the people on here who grow day lilies or cactus like stuff... we are genera specific people who concentrate on aroids and they do tell me that there are significant differences in climate in Australia. What flies at the coast does not always fly anywhere else.
Don't rely on advice from people in the USA who do not know the particulars of your specific climate zones there. Talk to locals, see what they have growing where you are moving, and what they do or don't do to grow their plants.

Thank you everyone for all your input and knowledge. Greatly appreciated. Still haven't made a decision to take her yet, but leaving her in the pot in a dry and non windy area for the first year might be an option. Also, a trip to the nursery for their advice, and perhaps find Blue Mountain locals that have tropicals and squeeze them for intel. Again, thanks all for your advice!

Best luck with your move!

Where exactly is Blue Mountain? I'm going to have to look that up. I'm sure you will find the best course

Thanks Gina. Blue Mountains is in eastern NSW. It's still part of Sydney, but is situated in the greater Sydney area, and takes about 3 hrs to travel there. Beautiful place..

That's good to know, thanks purpleinopp. Do you have it potted or in the garden?

Happy to reply. : ) Mine is in the ground.

Do you know what species your alocasia is @elvins the most common alocasia in Australia is brisbaniensis (I probably misspelled that). It became naturalized in tropical Australia many moons ago.
Alocasias come from SE Asia. The majority come from Tropical Borneo, but a large group also arises from the Philippines, others in Malaysia and some as far up as the Yunnan Provence of China. They became naturalized in Australia in the early days when import and export laws in your country were not so strict.
It may be totally possible that the one you have might be fine. Finding out the species would help you be able to better research and know that.
I've been told by friends in Australia that the USDA climate zone system has no use there, because Australia is more like California. There are many microclimates. The US and Puerto Rico use the half step zone system. Sally lives in 7b. Tiffany in 8b. I live in 9a. That means I have the warmest climate. The cold hardiness zones here end at 11a, which is Key West. Key West is still NOT in the true tropics.
California has 26 zones because they have so many microclimates, and nowhere in Cali is considered true tropics either.
Australia, however, does have areas that are in the true tropics.

@elvins, I was just curious, so I looked at the climate data for the Blue Mountains. I looked at Katoomba, so I realize, other parts may be different...microclimates etc.
But there have been lows of -3C (26F) recorded there. And it's not uncommon for there to be lows of 3-4 C (about 37F). The best case scenario seems to be 10-11C (about 50F). If the area is particularly windy, this may be a real consideration for your alocasia