For the last couple of years now, I have used the Wave or Supertunia in my hanging pots and also planters. They are absolutely beautiful, full of color all summer long. They do drape over and fill out nicely with only a couple of plants. Verbena is also nice mixed in with them to add another color in the pot.

My wife wanted a hanging basket for Mother's Day. I know little about designing and planting containers so I figured I would purchase one. I looked around a little and did not find much impressive. I ended up purchasing a very nice hanging basked from Costco for under $20. I am not positive on the plant ids, but it looks to have some purple Verbena hanging over the side with some red Geraniums in the center and a silver foliaged plant mixed in.

- Brent

G'Day!

Strawberries! Of course, that's my responce to any "what plant should i use?" question. Strawberries will send a nice fan of cute leaves and flower stems upwantd while runner which grow babies at the end will trail downwards. If the baby finds no soil - such as because it is in mid air - it will send out one or more runners too and make grandbabies.

i think the strawberries would work best in a "mixed basket." They are quite tolerant of a range of watering patterns, and perform well in light shade as well as full sun.

If you are as forgetful about watering as i am, i would also recommend a trailing sedum such as "Pony Tails" or "Blue Spruce."

For a porch with plenty of sun, thymes (another good one for irregular watering) would not only trail and look pretty when they blossom but also smell nice!

i admire hanging baskets of plants, but must admit that i have been too busy with the regular gardens to set any up this year!

Happy gardening,
-vlad

I like scaveola (sp?). Blooms all summer and drapes down elegantly. Pretty purple fan-like flowers and I think it comes in other colors now. I also like ornamental potato vine-- it becomes pretty rambunctious and you have to cut it back and you need a fairly large basket.

Bacoba is one of my favorites... It comes in white and blue , and cascades down from the pots in sprays of tiny delicate blossoms of color. Variegated ivy is nice with that as well.
I've also put purple hyacinth beans inside a pot. They grow long tendrils and send out seed pods after a very pretty pink/white blossom. Cypress vine and cardinal creeper are great for red color. The possibilities are endless.
Bonnie

Bacopa is a favorite of mine too (and not just in hanging baskets). I also like Thumbergia, and I like doing combination baskets, like with lobelia and vinca vine.

Others I've used: Ivy Geranium, lantana (but bring it in during winter months), or fuschia. And I've been playing around with different herbs as well (oregano is really good for spilling over the sides of baskets, chairs, rocks, etc.)

-Janice

Great suggestions from the herb folks -- strawberries, oregano, thyme... all gorgeous. A mix of those with a variety of sages (purple, silver, etc.) in the center for "fluff" would be decorative AND useful. If what you're going for is something folks will see from the road or drive as they approach, these might be too subtle. Wave petunias are incredibly impressive, and fuscias are gorgeous but not as dramatic... both with show off your porch from far away.

Good luck!
stacy

I'm not fond of the lavender scaevola, but the white is really nice! Good clean white, bushy habit, likes heat. Cox in Vienna had a ton of it last year, but I haven't been down there this spring.
Two other plants that make good fat hanging baskets here are the various callibrachoa selections (superbells, million bells etc), and the trailing snapdragons. If you can find the hairy-leaved snaps they do much better than the smooth kind - sorry, I'm not sure of the cultivar name, but they're not plain A. majus, more a mix of A. molle and/or A. hispanicum with whatever. I found some a couple of years ago and have grown them both in a basket and in the ground.

I always buy fuchsia, because I love them, but it's difficult to keep them happy in hot weather. So, after buying 2 gorgeous fuchsias (I've kept them happy about 3 wks, but it's not full summer yet), I got 2 hotpink dragonwing begonias this week for a backup. I'm not much for annuals, but these are gorgeous plants, huge & lush, I'm going to take some cuttings, & see how they fare over the hot summer...

My favorites are million bells,bicopa,lobelia,sweet potato vine,german ivy,and verbena.I always have great containers with these combinations.All but the lobelia love lots of sun.
Here are a few of mine from today...
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Eliza Ann

Eliza - Beautiful pics.

I find that the combination of purple fan flowers (scaveola) with terra cotta million bells (calibrachoa) works for me. I have mine in hanging basket and I love how the fanflowers trail over the edge along with the million bells. For height in the middle, I planted snapdragons.