How To Create Beautiful Hanging Flower Baskets

Hanging baskets of flowers can be a finishing, gorgeous touch to any porch or other outdoor space. But don't limit their charm to just hanging outdoors. Adding hanging flower plants around the inside of a home can be a brilliant design feature that takes your indoor decor to a new level. How do you know which are good flowers for hanging baskets? Read on for our list of top flowering hanging plants we love for baskets both inside and outside the home.

Begonia

Begonias make the perfect flowers to put in hanging baskets because of their pretty drooping but full, lush blooms. They produce closely clustered waxy petals that, when placed in a sunny spot, will bloom profusely throughout their life. They are known for their showy bright flowers and are heat tolerant. Begonias come in several colors, from reds to yellows to oranges to pinks. These annuals will grow year-round when in baskets indoors, but they do not tolerate frost so would not survive winters if outdoors.

Fuchsia

Fuchsias have delicate lantern-shaped bright two-toned blooms that are a favorite for hanging baskets. The flowers attract hummingbirds outdoors and the plant does best in part to full shade, making it the perfect choice to hang on a sheltered porch. While fuchsia grows all summer long outdoors, it is not very heat tolerant and would benefit from being misted daily during the hottest parts of the summer. Fuchsia also needs regular fertilizing and constant deadheading (removing spent flowers). Check for bugs or pests often, as fuchsias are prone to infestations.

Impatiens

Impatiens have bright, cheery, flat-leafed blooms that do exceptionally well in hanging baskets as they tend to have issues with mildew. Getting them up and out of the ground helps tremendously. Be sure not to overwater. Choose from purple, yellow, red, pink or white flowers and enjoy them inside or out all summer long. They need next to no care and just need moderate sunlight to be happy.

Lantana

Lantana is another great flower to put in hanging baskets because it is a very hearty plant that can survive in most conditions, even very sunny spots during the heat of summer. It has bright clusters of flowers that make it a favorite for many gardeners. Lantana attracts hummingbirds, bees and butterflies when outdoors. It is very low maintenance and needs only minimal water.

Lobelia

Lobelia is a cascading, delicate plant that blooms profusely. It has blue, purple and white blooms that make it a favored hanging plant perfect for any porch or indoor basket. It does best in early spring and will thrive in moderate temperatures before the heat of summer does it in. Place lobelia in partial shade and keep soil moist with regular watering to get the most out of this showy plant.

Pansy

Pansies are easy to grow and need very little attention, despite the sweet abundance of blooms that will grace your hanging basket. Hang baskets in areas that receive moderate sunlight and be sure to water regularly. They will flower from spring through summer in cooler climates, but in warmer areas pansies can bloom into winter.

Petunia

Petunias are another low-maintenance plant that will fill out with full blooms and put on quite a show. These classics are all but made to grow in a hanging basket as some varieties will bloom continuously and shed spent blooms on their own, eliminating the need for deadheading. Petunias love full sun and will attract hummingbirds to your porch or garden. They are more fragrant in the evening hours.

Sweet Alyssum

You can't help but love the dainty round-petal clusters of white flowers known as sweet alyssum. They are a great basket filler and will produce continuous blooms beginning in the middle of spring. Not only are they pretty to look at, but sweet alyssum is a pleasure to smell too with blooms that have a sweet honey scent. Prune regularly as sweet alyssum can get a bit unruly and shaggy if left to grow unattended to. Plant in moderate sunlight and be sure to water regularly.

Verbena

Verbena is ideal even in areas with extreme heat. Clustered bright tiny blooms make this hanging flower a treat. An abundance of sun (at least 10 hours a day) is needed and verbena wants to be planted in well-draining soil. Water occasionally but take care not to overwater. Verbena will bloom from spring until the first frost.

Hanging baskets can be an interesting, pretty and fun way to add flowering elements to more than just the ground. Gilmour makes it simple to plant and care for all types of hanging basket flowers. Check out all our tools so you can plant and enjoy flowering blooms for hanging baskets both inside and out of your home.