What do i do beside the elephant ear plants contained by the winter, and are the bulbs usable subsequent year? ...
Answers: It would really help to know where on earth you live, so that we can answer your question better.
I am presuming that you live 'up north', and hold to lift your elephant ears. Now's the time to do it, contained by USDA hardiness zone 5, back the first frost. Dig them up carefully, and lay them to dry out within the garage or shed. Protect them from vermin, so they don't guzzle the bulbs. Clean the soil off of the bulbs, but try to resign from the roots intact.
Once the leaves have yellowed and switch on to dry, cut them off, also rinse out off the rest of the soil and dried up roots. Store them contained by a paper pouch with perilite. Keep the daypack in a cool dry place, similar to a basement.
Six weeks or so up to that time the planting season, plant the bulbs into 1-gallon or 2-gallon grower pots (the black plastic ones that shrubs are grown in at the nursery). Keep them within the basement, dampen as needed. If they sprout before they can be planted within the garden, move them to a sunnier spot. Voila, you have them growing quicker than everyone else, so you can enjoy them longer.
Good luck-
I hope that this help
Leave them alone and they grow back the following year. Mind you, I've never have a problem, but I've also never lived up north.