Even the tiniest of spaces can come alive with a hanging basket brimming with vibrant plants. Get ready to explore some of the top choices for your high-flying garden displays.
The right combination of plants in your hanging baskets can create a beautiful spectacle, attracting hummingbirds and butterflies to pollinate the flowers and add life to your yard. While not every flower is suited for a hanging container, these are some of the best picks to guarantee a stunning show.
Beautiful Hanging Basket Flower Ideas (Short List)
For the best results, look for colorful varieties that grow quickly. You’ll find a vast selection of annual plants perfect for hanging baskets, each available in a dizzying array of colors and flower sizes.
Petunias are a classic choice that consistently delivers a spectacular show. Their natural trailing habit allows them to spill beautifully over the edges, producing large, colorful blooms all through spring and summer. If you want a cascade of green foliage punctuated by hundreds of tiny, vibrant flowers, look no further than Lobelia. The true blue varieties of Lobelia are especially captivating. Trailing Geraniums are another perennial favorite. You can also find pansies or osteospermum specially cultivated with a trailing habit for basket use. Here are some visual ideas to help you imagine the possibilities.
1. Ivy Geranium (Pelargonium peltatum)
Ivy geraniums are a fantastic option for hanging baskets because they offer double the beauty with both stunning blossoms and attractive foliage. Tucked among the small, ivy-shaped leaves, you’ll find clusters of rich, deeply colored flowers that will bloom for the entire summer season.
Available in a wide spectrum of colors, ivy geraniums are a magnet for butterflies and dragonflies. You might even spot a hummingbird visiting your basket for a quick drink.
2. Lady’s Eardrops (Fuchsia)
Fuchsias rank among the most popular plants for hanging baskets, and for good reason. They fill out a planter with impressive speed, and their unique blossoms cascade gracefully over the sides of the container.
These plants are wonderfully low maintenance, typically needing just a weekly watering to thrive. Their blossoms are strikingly vibrant, often featuring a dramatic contrast like neon pink outer petals and deep purple inner ones.
3. Wax Begonias (Begonias)
If you have a shaded corner on your porch that could use a vibrant touch of life, a hanging basket filled with begonia flowers is the perfect solution.
Begonias produce charming clusters of blossoms in a variety of lovely colors, making them an ideal and eye-catching addition to any hanging display.
4. Million Bells (Calibrachoa)
Often called “Million Bells,” this sun-worshipping plant is robust enough to fill a hanging basket all on its own or to mix and match with other species. It produces dense clusters of small, bell-shaped blossoms that pop beautifully against its petite green leaves.
You can find Calibrachoa in a rainbow of colors, from soft pink and purple to violet, blue, and even a unique brownish orange. It is an excellent choice for adding a splash of accent color to your hanging arrangements.
5. Petunias (Petunia)
Trailing petunias are available in an assortment of gorgeous colors and emit a light, pleasant aroma. Their blossoms will keep going all summer long without requiring much fuss from you. They just need occasional light feeding and a good watering every couple of weeks, depending on how much sun they get.
This plant pairs wonderfully with other trailing varieties, allowing you to create a flowing stream of both color and fragrance.
Should You Buy or Create Your Own Hanging Basket?
Building your own basket is a delightful process. It’s a creative challenge to find the perfect container and dream up flower combinations that will look amazing together. If you enjoy this DIY approach, it’s best to start with flower plugs or small plants. Growing them from seed can take a significant amount of time, unless you have experience starting your own annuals indoors.
Young plants will begin to grow and flower almost right after you plant them, which usually leads to a more impressive and longer lasting display throughout the season. However, there’s no shame in grabbing a beautifully arranged hanging basket from your local nursery. While it costs a bit more, you get the amazing benefit of instant gratification!
Edible Hanging Baskets
Why not give your hanging basket a delicious twist by planting things you can eat? Trailing tomatoes, like the Tumbling Tom variety, perform wonderfully in hanging containers. You will love being able to harvest fresh, juicy tomatoes right from your basket all summer long.
This type of tomato is also easy to grow from seed yourself. Just start the seeds on a sunny windowsill or in a seed propagator around February. If you’re interested in growing strawberries in containers, you can plant a few runners in your basket or simply purchase young plants from a nursery. Strawberries provide a splash of early color and are safely tucked away from the slugs and snails that often bother them on the ground.
How to Care for Your Hanging Basket
Here are a few final tips to ensure you have a thriving, beautiful basket:
- Consistent watering is absolutely critical for a successful hanging basket. The limited amount of soil dries out quickly. You will likely need to water daily during the hottest parts of the summer.
- Using a compost mix with added moisture-retaining components can significantly help your plants thrive.
- Feed your basket on a weekly basis to promote better growth and more abundant flowering.
- For the best performance, start with fresh compost in your hanging baskets every year.
- Many flowering plants need regular removal of spent blooms. This practice, known as deadheading, encourages the plant to produce new flowers and extends the blooming season.
By selecting plants that are well suited for containers and following these simple care guidelines, you can enjoy a stunning floral display hanging from your porch, roof, or anywhere you need a pop of color.
