Sounds like you revived them by watering them which is all good, :) don't leave them in the shade though, they will need sun again. Pick off what ever is dead, and keep them well watered. Fertilize when you see NEW growth. Best of luck!
Alberta

That happened to me but my adult son was the sitter. He said that he did his best. I had tidal waves. In two containers they were still green but terribly wilted and faded floweres. I started to water. If the soiled dried out too much the water will go right through. Make sure that the plant is getting wet from the water. I also took off all the faded floweres. It took a good week for the green leaves to perk up and the flowers started to bloom. However, my two hanging baskets were crispy except for green stems. I watered and waited a week. The one did nothing but the other started to green up at the very bottom. I decided that this late in the season, it would be like starting over so I replaced the flowers with ones that I had in the ground. I put the struggling one in the ground and it is slowly growing new leaves at the bottom of the stems.
I agree with you--don't blame the sitter, be glad that you were able to find somebody or you could have lost them all. Next time, I will leave all plants in partial shade.

p.s. my sister's plant sitter thought she did a good job because none of the plants were dead---but in truth 1/3 were very wilted , she did have to cut them back to get them going again. She just paid the sitter and said nothing too.

Oh, the deck is not a low deck. We have a walkout basement so the deck is very high above ground and underneath the deck we have a brick "patio" and this is where the rest of the plants that fared well spent their time during my holidays. So, there is definitely sunlight underneath the deck. I should have put the baskets there myself...but there was rain in the forecast for the first couple of days of my holiday and I thought if I left them hanging that they could enjoy that extra moisture and then be moved under the deck once the rain stopped. I guess I was trying to hedge my risks but I didn't anticipate that the person would put them in the wrong spot. Thanks for the input. It's nice to know that they have another chance. I don't have trailing petunias in the ground or I would trade them too.

Should I deadhead? But there are masses of deadblooms and it will take a few days to do them all but would it be worth the effort?

Thank you again for all the great help!

Personally, I would give the plants a very serious haircut and let masses of new, healthy growth come back and knock your socks off.

I had a six inch container of Wave sit too long before I got around to incorporating it into a mixed container planting. It looked like crap! After a severe haircut, it has now tripled its size and is almost touching the ground where it hangs over the 22" pot. That took all of 3 weeks.

I would soak each one in a bucket of water with fish & seaweed emulsion, & I'd cut them back like rhizo says: better to get rid of all that brown junk & let the new green emerge.

Best luck.

This is why I gave up on hanging planters year ago. Instead, I have mostly perennials in the ground and wind chimes hanging from hooks. Also in the ground are nasturtiums -- they like hot dry weather -- and impatiens in big pots in very shady places.
Then you can go away and you have a better chance of coming back and seeing everything in the same condition as when you left.

Next time, put them under the deck yourself before you leave, and you'll avoid the problem of miscommunication.

How are your hanging plants doing now? Did they make it?

Susan