Great Ideas for Hanging Baskets

Perennial and annual flowers, as well as creeping vines and plants, offer a rainbow of color and cascading green foliage to a hanging basket. Perennial bulbs tucked into a basket help create an interesting container all season long. Hanging baskets require nutrient-rich and well-drained soil to ensure the roots grow healthy and quickly. Because hanging baskets have a small surface area to draw moisture from, watering is essential and should be frequent in order to keep your flowers healthy.

Cool-Season Flowers

Cool-season flowers provide nonstop flowering in the winter to last until spring. They are tough flowers that withstand winter's cold temperatures while bringing in a bright burst of color to the winter landscape. For color to the basket, add pansy blooms. Pansies are low-growing flowers that come in a wide variety of colors and sizes, including violas, a smaller version of the pansy. Nested within a hanging basket, they help to fill in spots with their bright faces. Alongside the pansies, add an ornamental cabbage or kale. These colorful cool-season plants have pink, purple and white foliage that instantly brightens up the basket. Bulbs are another cool-season essential. Planted alongside the flowers, bulbs like grape hyacinth and daffodils will emerge in early spring for a pop of color to the basket.

Warm-Season Flowers

Summer flowers that are drought tolerant and unfussy are ideal in a hanging basket. Warm-season perennials like coreopsis are ideal warm-season container plants because they produce a plethora of blooms all summer long. Their bright flower blooms grow up to 3 inches wide and are grown in a variety of colors including yellow, red, maroon and orange. The double to semi-double flower petals are fringed with jagged edges to produce unusual texture. Another heat-tolerant flower to add to a hanging basket is the trailing petunia. This hardy summer-loving annual flower has a low-growing habit that produces small flowers in many colors including red, yellow, blue, violet and white. Add these draping blooms to a hanging basket for bright color into the fall.

Vines and Ground Covers

Vines and ground covers are great for a hanging basket because they create balance with their cascading blooms and foliage. Planted along the front and sides of the hanging basket, they are striking. Creeping plants like English ivy and creeping jenny are hardy trailing vines that bring in a splash of green to the hanging basket. Another classic creeping essential to add to a hanging basket is creeping thyme. Creeping thyme has fragrant dark green foliage that smells of mint. Contrasting with the dark foliage are the purple blooms. Beginning in summer, the creeping thyme blooms light up the plants to bring color to a hanging basket. Creeping thyme is also an evergreen and will remain with color all season long, including the gray winter months.

Keywords: hanging basket ideas, cool-season flowers, warm-season flowers, creeping vines

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