How to Choose the Best Plants and Flowers For Hanging Baskets
Hanging your favorite flowers in a beautiful hanging basket is one of the easiest ways to decorate a home garden. There are many kinds of flowers that can be used to spruce up an open-air patio or small garden space. Most flower gardens are designed using several perennials or annuals. This means that they will keep growing year after year with very little care from the gardener.
Some of the best plants and flowers for hanging baskets can be found in local nurseries or gardening stores. Local gardening specialty stores often carry a wide variety of pots and accessories to help you create a beautiful backyard garden. The Best Plants For Hanging Baskets. The best plants for hanging baskets are perennials with their colorful trailing flowers, tall flowering pots, colorful panies, gorgeous cascading blooms, and shades of pink and purple. Generally, the best kinds of outdoor flowering plants require plenty of sunlight throughout the day.
However, there are also some container gardening plants that make excellent hanging basket plants. These can be placed in a window planter to grow taller and bloom more regularly. They also provide an array of colors and textures to add a beautiful touch to any yard. When choosing these flowering plants, it’s important to choose plants that grow slowly. Slow growing flowering plants will help them bloom year after year with very little attention.
Some of the best plants and flowers for hanging baskets would be the evergreen varieties like the following: English Ivy, creepingitoria, Japanese spurge, phlox, hibiscus, mums, hollyhock, petunia, privet, and strelitzia. English Ivy is a perennial that grows to two feet tall and produces white blooms in the spring. It has gray-green foliage and grows on the side of woody and thickets. Sprawling and bushy, it makes a good border plant around the perimeter of your garden. Its graceful habit and tall height make it ideal for using as a backdrop when planting other plants or in a container. The narrow leaves make it an excellent choice for containers.
While most flowering baskets do well in shaded areas, some of the best plants and flowers for hanging baskets do much better if they’re planted in sunny areas. Perennials like the following are good candidates for hanging in the sun: scabiosa, cosmos, and virginiana. In addition to providing needed color and texture, many plants with glossy foliage and bright blooms will do well if watered often during the hot summer months. Shorter lived plants like lavender, hydrangea, alstroemeria, and morning glories will survive well on regular watering.
Many plants will do well if you plan to grow them on a trellis, though you might need to provide weekly watering. Plants that prefer full sunlight include morning glories, crocus, hydrangea, day lilies, and tulips. For baskets that need less watering, choose shorter growing plants, such as zinnias, begonias, and perennials like lavender, crocus, and daffodils. Be sure to check your local climate before deciding on which plants are best for hanging baskets.
Most flowering baskets have fine quality soil, but you’ll need to test it before planting. Soil that contains a lot of sand or coarse sand particles may not be ideal for growing plants that rely on sunlight to grow. Some plants, such as lavender, need a very acidic soil to thrive, so look for potting soil that has a low lime level. Hanging basket plants should be given about one inch of water per week, for the best results.
Some varieties of flower garden plants, such as lavender, will bloom during cold weather. In addition, some petunias grow well in partial shade or a little light, so they could be an option if you live in a location where there is no winter. However, perennial plants prefer full sun and will do well as part of a hanging garden. Perennial flowers such as roses and azaleas are another option if you’re looking to fill a space and provide a focal point for the overall layout. Regardless of which flowers or plants you choose for your hanging baskets, make sure to provide good drainage and plenty of direct sunlight.