I really love baskets with Bacopa, lobelia, geranium,petunias and lots of others!Ivy leaf geraniums are pretty easy, they love sun and hate to be over watered! And they flower like crazy when deadheaded often. Looking forward to hearing from you. Dot

HELLO_KATE & DOT,Glad to know you like hanging baskets too! My favorite is SPIDER PLANT. Just love the way a long runner grows ,and a baby Plant forms from the end. A Carolina wren uses one of my hanging basket as her (safe) nesting place.Spider plants require so little care and produce so much!

Evelyn,

I have to agree with the spiderplant. I have a huge one, and many, many babies in pots.

I just planted a basket the other day, and can't wait to see how it turns out. I put in it purple, and white Alyssum, and pink impatiens. Hope it turns out.

ladies. down here in the south, the most popular hanging basket is boston fern. i have seven accross my front porch and they really dress the place up. and they like shade.

I have a couple of spider plants the younger and smaller of the 2 seems to be doing well the older is sprouting babies but seems to be dying..... what exact type of atmosphere is the healthiest for my plant it is so pretty i would hate to see it die

Last year I had two favorites outside: Purple wave petunia (the more sun the better) and streptocarpella (started cuttings over the winter and will try them in the window boxes this year. They bloom and bloom, no diseases, no bugs; will do with 6 hrs. of sun). Good luck.

I planted my own baskets this year and they look amazing. At least I think so. I used dark pink/red geraniums, double white impatiens and Swan River Daisy.

Gosh Kat I do mine in the wire frames use moss out of the yard as a liner,stuff is a weed here...then do them in layers so they are planted all the way around,,depending on the areas,as far as the sun baskets go,,bacopa on the bottom variegated charlie all over,petunias,geraniums,different vines like morning glory creeping about,,moss roses,livingstone daisy,,agertum,you get the picture a big mix so they are always blooming and the colors are there,,in the shade there are the begonias,fushia,loblia,impations,variegated charlie,just another big mix,,I put the variegated charlie in all my baskets and planters to keep one plant as a common so they have a connection..Jwj

I love my chenille plant. You know, the one with all those fuzzy red tails. It is in a partially shaded spot outdoors and it stays in bloom indoors all winter in a sunny spot.

My favorite hanging basket is Ivey vines,easy to grow,will stand cold weather but I keep it in patio/cover with old sheet if very cold,in spring/summer I water it every day,put Miracle Grow on it once a week,cut vine off to start another basket,put into soil keep it wet,it will grow,I have several baskets,if anyone lives near by they are welcome to get cuttings/I really wish I could trade some for a cutting of Ferns & yes, the birds made a nest in one last year/I did not know it but while watering it two babies fell out,I had to get a ladder to put them back in nest,I were afraid the mother would not keep them but I guess she did.I like baskets that don't need too much care,we do go on vacation,the iveys do o k while we are gone.

Here is a link that might be useful: Dropseat Jumpsuits

I have been trying to grow Ivey from hanging pots in my living room with the goal being to have an archway in the entrance draped from ceiling to floor. The problem is, they keep dying. First I thought they were getting too much water, then too little. It seems they die overnight. I would like to know what I can do to keep them alive and growing!

Wave petunia lover here. I had a basket mixed with this and english ivy last year, brought the ivy inside for the winter and it's now a beautiful houseplant. Just love the Wave Petunias though.

Glad to hear about Wave Petunias. Here in Houston, my favorite standby is good old reliable impatients, especially white...looks great in semi-shaded areas for months with a little trimming back and feeding with Miracle Grow and fish oil emulsion. Of course plenty of hanging ferns...Boston fern and asparagus fern---the asparagus fern can take sun. In full sun a white periwinkle looks fantastic. Ice plant has done well on a patio trellis. I like it because it has glossy green leaves, little red flowers, and obscures the pots it grows in.

Tropical faves are pothos and swedish ivy.

Annual faves are Wave Petunias and Purslane

Perennial fave is Skullcap (also called Fountain Salvia)

Herb fave is Chocolate Mint

i have three Diascia, one rose and two coral. i also have trailing snapdragons and wave patunas and one pansies, i have a hanging basket in my well it has impatients. hope this helps. trailing snap dragons are tolerant of heat. any replies send to finlawbear@msn.com.

Trailing lobelia, bacopa (snowflake plant) and non-stop begonias due very well here in the Northwoods.

I like million bells and vining geraniums.

I would say spider, ivy and arrowhead. "My" little Carolina Wren has a "safe" nest in my arrowhead on the front porch. "We" are nursing 5 itty bitty eggs at the moment. She goes away long enough to let me water the plant, then comes back and scolds me for it - lol. I leave her food in return.

CORRECTION!!! We now have 3 babies and 2 eggs!!!

I make sure to include one of the ornamental sweet potato varieties in any basket I make. They come in purple-black, bright yellow and also in a tri-color which is pink,green and white. They grow in sun or shade and they droop their leaves when dry to tell you they need water. No matter how dry they get, they always perk up.

I have tried green and white iboza vine this year and it is great so far. Sort of looks like pineapple mint. Torenia is wonderful in shady areas.

Anyone out there have Snowflake Bacopa in zone 9, full sun? I have one that has been gradually dying off. At first I watered every day(it's very hot out here- up over 100 degrees in summer), then decreased it down to 3 days a week. It continued to die off, so now I've removed the drip irrigator altogether thinking it was still overwatered. I've heard they don't like being over watered. So in zone 9, how much water is too much for this?

The last two springs, I have bought hanging baskets with a flower that resembles petunia's but is smaller. They are a "wave" type. They come in white purple and red. Sorry I can't recall the name. The nursery plants them in a small 8 or 10 inch pot, and the problem I always have is they start looking dead at the root area half way down to the flower. The leaves also fall off. The plant does get watered everyday because it is in full sun, and miracle grow every other week. Do you think the containers they are in get too small or become root bound? I hate to spend $20.00 or more on hanging plants and not have them last through the summer. What is your thoughts on this. Thank you. Faye

With me, there is something about the silvery gray foliage of Parrot's beak, forever bloomer
Crown of thorns and Miniature Rose that I think looked beautiful together. The three make the
basket look absolutely divine. More than three plants per make basket look sort of cluttered
but that's just me. I would also mention that I would not dare put them in a full sun location thought.
lol.

Ankrara's Hobby Corner

Hi Kate, it would depend a lot on your zone and your daytime temps. Where I live (North Central WA) our summers are very warm and quite dry, I think I'm in zone 5. My deck is in full sun nearly all day. I plant my own containers every year and have done well with petunias, ivy geraniums, verbena (a favorite) and trailing lobelia to name a few. Portulaca (moss rose) is a pretty flowering trailing annual that loves full sun and thrives on very little care. Dracaena spikes are good for height with lower growing plants and vinca vine is a nice trailing plant. It doesn't flower but provides nice contrast. I like to go to the local garden centers and look at what they have planted in containers to get ideas. When I come up with a combination I like, I write it down so I can remember what I did the following year. I "winter over" my geraniums each year and I think they look prettier every time. On the shady side of my house (porch) I have a container of different varieties of coleus; no flowers but great color. You can take cuttings from those in the fall and grow them indoors so that you have new plants to put outside in the spring. Impatiens and begonias are also nice shade plants.

Hope this helps, good luck!

I love Million bells,bicopa and sweet potato vine together.I have 6 hanging baskets planted up with different colors.I tried them last year and they were fantastic! They love lots of sun.
Eliza Ann

My favorite this year is a leftover basket from last year. It had little petunias coming up, so I just let them grow and added some white dianthus, bacopa and a licorice plant. The weird thing is the petunias. Last year they were all purple (some kind of wave). This year they are purple, hot pink, and a purple/white combination. The purple petunia has three different shades of purple on the same plant. They almost look irridescent. This is such an interesting basket. The "accidental" ones are always so pretty. I guess the seeds dropped from last year didn't come back true to the parent plant, since it was a hybrid. What a neat surprise!

My favorite is English Ivy. I just love how it trails.

I've got mourning doves that repeatedly nest in my bougainvillea and butterfly pentas.

Since it looks like you're looking for ideas... (I'm a big fan of hanging baskets, and I've lined my house breezeway with them so I have a bunch!)

For sun, I have:
mint
butterfly pentas
wave petunias (two--one pale lavendar, and one with bright pink and dark purple together)
shell/snail/corkscrew vine (this one is on a shepherd's hook that it climbs all over)
chenille
bougainvillea

Shade:
English Ivy (varigated and non, in two different baskets)
pothos
Wandering Jew
an unidentified succulant with pretty flowers

My favorite hanging baskets have plants that trail down and cover up the baskets completely, so all you see is the plant. I think my next try will have mandevilla.

I love to use bird cages and wire waste paper baskets
stuffed with moss as the "baskets", and plant them with all sorts of succulants, combined with "free" cuttings from my garden or on walks. Spiderplant,"creeping jenny", "creeping charlie", and ferns are some of my favorites.

I am a big fan of portulaca for full sun, and like
begonias, chenille plant, and cascading types of
succelents for the shade.

boomchuckchuck

I'm with boomchuckchuck, I love unusual hanging baskets! Here's my favorite, I think this was an old swag lamp that the glass was broken out of, I found it on a curb, lol.

I have two favs. I hang 8 every year and have tried many combos. My very favs are scavola (fan flower)blue/lav., cuz it take the sun heat and bounces right back if I forget to water until it tells me. It stays looking great with a slight bit of pruning mid season. In fact, it is one of the few things still looking wonderful.

The other is Dragon wing begonia in red or pink. It gets clusters of blooms like the Angel wing, but growth is draping. This is a must have. It does well in morning sun and quite a bit of shade - every place I put it, it does well and it still looks fantastic. I have not tried it in full sun or total shade, but very near - may next year. Another plus with it is I overwinter it inside and it blooms a little all winter, but is not near so messy as the wax begonias.

I have come to like these two plants alone in hanging pots, cuz all others I try wane during mid-summer or die off completely making the whole container look a sorry mess. These look good when I buy them and still look good when frost hits or the beg. stays thru winter, if I take it inside. What more can you ask? The only other plant I know that is nearly this dependable and continuous bloom are the impatiens in our area and they aren't ususally full to start with - important in our short growing season. Guess I could buy mature baskets tho, now that I think of it. Guess I will for a change.
jan

'Chocolate drop' coleus with dicondra 'Silver falls.' It was very pretty until one of the cats started pulling off whatever it could reach. It was trailing down a good four feet, not anymore =(

GW

Ivy is always good but right now I a big fan of burro's tail, rosary vine and string of beads (or pearls) although I currently don't own rosary vine or string of pearls but I'm keeping my eye out for them.