Looks like we need skybird to swoop in with advice :-). I'm in the "cram in whatever will fit" camp and that doesn't work out very well; although thyme worked well until I forgot to water the baskets...oops!

Sneaky, the only indoor plants I have are cacti, a geranium (not the cranesbill kind) and Tilly (it's really tillisandia) that does fine until I try to take care of it.

Jen

How many plants--as if that isn't the million dollar question! I guess it kinda depends upon what kind of plant, and what the lighting requirements are and how often you want to water--how's that for a great big qualifier? I can't recommend enough using some Soil Moist Mats (or at least cut open some disposable diapers and use the absorbent crystals in your potting mix to hold extra water), especially since it gets so dry and sometimes windy where we live; some of that has to be taken into consideration for your baskets (there's a disaster story behind that bit of advice, but I'll spare the pathetic details!). If you plant a bunch of plants into one pot, it can dry out really quickly, especially if it's in the sun. Begonias typically aren't sun plants, so I would bargain that you're looking for some that do well in part sun & part shade. If you're going to be buying bedding plants, just about anything that you find at the local garden center will work, but you want to be cautious of how big the plants get. Some that do well in baskets are pansies, petunias, and begonias, but in the sun, the petunias will definitely overtake begonias, whereas pansies will stay a reasonable size but still colorful in shade to part shade. A little greenery is always nice, but I couldn't begin to tell you the names of anything other than 'dusty miller,' which is more silver than green anyway! So, really, 1) take into consideration your watering habits--if it's automatic or you're able to water 2X day, then crowd 'em in there, several will fit, and the more you can fit in there, the more filled-out the basket will be and sooner, and 2) take into consideration like-minded plants, both in size and sun/shade preferences.

As far as what indoor hanging plant would grow well out in the summer, go for some wandering jew, always! It will grow well in sun (needs gradual introduction for sun exposure) or shade, and makes a GREAT houseplant--even if you don't want to bring the whole sucker in, you can take cutting and stick 'em into some wettish soil (you don't even need rooting hormone or to root in water first), they'll root up like nobody's business. I would be careful with WJ if you're in a tropical climate, because it can almost be invasive, but won't overwinter where it freezes (at least, not in my experience, not with the varieties I have). Other ones that go in and out of the house (after hardening, etc) are spider plants. They might take over in a basket if they get crowded or the other plants get stressed, but they'll also do sun or shade, again, if you gradually introduce them to the sun after having been in 'hibernation' for months--else you might fry them, as is the case with any 'houseplant!' Some that I think would be fun to try are any variety of philodendron (I've got a gorgeous heart-leafed variety I might have to do in my part-shade pots), and maybe even Christmas cactus. God did not create plants to live indoors, so pretty much any houseplant can be adapted to go outdoors if done properly, but obviously some will look better in hanging baskets than others.

Okay, now that I've talked myself into putting some of my purple jew in with my begonias and bleeding hearts, I'm gonna turn it over to someone else for their recommendations. On one last note, I'm pretty sure I've already forgotten everything that I've ever learned, so I'm learning something completely new to see if it sticks, hence the hanging out on GW!

Here is a link that might be useful: Soilmoist mats

I always hang a dozen or so 12" dia pots with wave petunias. One plant will do it, if you nip the growing stem when it's small and force branching. This will give a two - three day watering cycle, and those plants get so huge that I end up pruning the plants twice over the summer. They also have the advantage of re-seeding the pot, so if I leave them out over the winter, and then bring them inside the greenhouse in March and water them, I get lots of baby petunias. That whole hybrid-offspring thing is lots of fun with the Wave petunias, there are several different outcomes, all that look pretty good.

As others have said, if you cram them in, they look great but they have to be constantly watered and frequently fed. And I did overhear a comment once at the local nursery, where they were selling these jammed-in-lotza-plants hanging baskets for $40 a pop - preying on the awakening gardening instincts of their clientele, they knew they'd all dry out and die within a few weeks. Shameless.

For the indoor ones going outside, I do spider plants - but they have to hang in partial shade.

Do ivy-leaf geraniums count as an indoor plant that does well outdoors in the summer, or an outdoor plant that does well inside in the winter?

Ditto for coleus.

A lot of houseplants enjoy the outdoors during the summer if they can be protected a bit from hail, frost, and hungry critters. Some love the sun if you'll take them time to acclimate them. Others prefer outdoor shade. Some will look good in hanging baskets. Others will look better in pots that are closer to the ground.

Well, Im "swooping in here" late, Dafy! I pretty much second what everybody else has said! Cram them in! When IÂve helped make up hanging baskets and mixed pots in the past, we pretty much knocked the plants out of the pots (they were grown in) and crammed them into the pot or basket side by sideÂand then filled in what little soil we needed in the (small) cracks between the plants! Doing that gives you a nice, full look, FASTÂand if anything should die off on you, you still have lots left to fill in.

And, Re: what David said: When I was furloughed after 9-11, I went back to Illinois to help my brother, who sells bedding plants, baskets, and veggies in spring (he has commercial greenhouses and grows the stuff himself), we joked about the same thing! Back there, in addition to knowing people would let them dry out, it was often the people who would come in "too early" and then not know they had to bring annual baskets in when there was a sudden cold snap! More business! Replacing frozen ones definitely made up part of his business. Since heÂs only open for about 6 weeks in spring, he didnÂt get into a lot of replacements for the ones that dried out and died! HeÂs already closed for the season by the time itÂs getting hot out!

AndÂspeaking of things drying outÂcoco mat baskets are going to be reallyreallyreally hard to keep wet in our climate! The first garden center I worked at out here in Colorado sold them, and we had trouble keeping them alive long enough to sell them (and we were watering constantly)Âand I seriously doubt that any of the people who bought them were able to keep them alive for more than a couple weeksÂand they were like $60 a basket! PaulinoÂs doesnÂt even sell them. I strongly recommend that you line the inside of the coco mat with a couple thin layers of plastic before planting in themÂwith holes in the bottom for drainage. Without something to help keep the moisture in, youÂre going to have a lot of trouble. Even with a plastic lining, and even in shade, youÂre probably going to have trouble keeping them moist when it gets hot outÂtho I must add that begonias definitely donÂt like to stay wet all the time, so be careful about that. TheyÂll rot off quite easily if they stay too wet. So with begonias itÂll be a pretty fine line between too wet and too dry! For petunias and anything youÂre hanging in the sun, theyÂll probably need to be watered a couple times a day when itÂs hot outÂand thatÂs if you put the plastic in to line them. When the plants get big, theyÂll use a LOT of water in the heat. ThatÂs true for most of your things in pots too! I know IÂve been telling you to let them dry out between waterings, but itÂs still cold out now, and the small plants donÂt use much water. ThatÂs all gonna turn around when they start getting big, and when the heat goes up! Hope thatÂs not too discouraging! Growing in pots and baskets just takes more monitoring than growing in the ground where the moisture levels (and temperatures) are more stable. (Glad youÂre gonna have a little piece of dirt to plant in too! ;-) )

Oh! One more thing! IÂd pick up a couple trailing somethings to put in the baskets to hang down over the sides. There are several different things you can get if you go check out the bedding plants at a "real" garden center. I like, and recommend, Vinca major. ItÂs the large leaf vinca vine, and it looks really nice in basketsÂI think! It comes in plain green, and a green and white variegated oneÂand thereÂs also a green and yellow variegated one that I really like, but itÂs harder to find. ItÂs Vinca major ÂAureaÂ.

Time to cram!

Digit, the only thing I can think to add to the "houseplant" list is pothosÂtho it doesnÂt grow fast, so youÂd need to buy one, or have one that youÂve been growing inside long enough for it to "hang." But you didnÂt say what kind of light youÂre putting it/them in! Pothos is pretty much a shade or no hot midday (outdoor) sun plant. And as Mayberry and Poly have said above, anything thatÂs been growing insideÂor even in a greenhouse, will need to be very gradually acclimated to a new life outdoors in "outside" sun. Glass filters out a bunch of the "stuff in the sun." Ever try to get a suntan sitting behind glass! And, as Mayberry said, God didnÂt create plants to live indoors, but just introduce them to their new life s l o w l y.

Dafy, are you REALLY successfully growing Tillandsia out here??? TheyÂre "air" plants, and "our" air doesnÂt have what they needÂmoisture! When I was a kid and my parents brought some back from Florida one year, we didnÂt even have much luck growing them in "wet" (yuck) Illinois! IÂm amazed that theyÂre working for you!

Skybird

As long as "successfully" means I haven't killed it yet. It's a little one I picked up at the Home & Garden show last year. I'm a sucker for an interesting flower. This one reminded me of a tropical fish. It spent the past year on the floor by the back door window inside a mini greenhouse with the lid propped open - mostly to keep the cats from eating it, standing on it, dragging it around - you get the idea :-). It actually started putting out some new center growth, but I doubt it will flower again.

Now it's in the window right behind the kitchen sink. During the winter we boil water on the stove at night to add some humidity and we always fill the sink up with hot hot water to soak the dishes in, which lets some steam waft up toward the window. I think I need to put it in a bigger pot soon though.

jen

Oh, another opportunity to sneak in on the thread:

The hanging indoor plant would be purchased just for the purpose of hanging outdoors this Summer and then moved indoors in the Fall. It will have a very "special" location. First of all, it is mostly out of the wind and has sunlight for about 4 to 5 hours thru the morning, no afternoon sun. So, all that should be good for a foliage plant (is Hoya, a possibility?). The bad part:

I have a step outside the greenhouse door. Unfortunately, the greenhouse is very close to the carport roof. To walk past the greenhouse and carport - I still need to step up on that little 3' by 3' landing. The result . . . I can bump my head on the carport roof ! * * ♫ *

I can hang a red flag there but a hanging plant seems so much more attractive. And, then what to do in the months outside the growing season? I figure that there are so many "FAKE" indoor vines - - you've all seen them in offices and shops. You gotta get right up to them to see if they are real or not.

I figure the indoor plant can be replaced with one of these "FAKES" with not too much break in the continuity of things. That is, unless I can think of something else to put in that planter that doesn't look so "FAKE" out there in the snow all Winter. But, seeing a "FAKE" green plant should be better than seeing "s t a r s ."

digits*

well digit, you could always try one of those topsy turvy tomatoes :-)

I'm the topsy turvy one out there, Jen.

A tomato would need to be rotated in and out - no afternoon sun. With the new roof on the carport, there will be starlight. (To go with my new wireless indoor/outdoor thermometer, I could install one of those cosmic vortices we've talked about before.

Sister K, are you still with us? :o)

d'S'

Hi Digits & everyone else! I am here, but just barely. I am hitting my busy season with lots of travel, and we just had layoffs at work last week, with one of my programs & employees being cut, along with 3 people from other departments. I'm glad to have survived this round of layoffs, but have a LOT on my plate trying to figure out the transition and things are pretty "uninspiring" at work. I got back from my last trip and was thrilled to see so many sprouts (from winter sowing) but need to organize new pots to put them in--and time to do it--because their little dixie cups are not holding enough water even all my shirley poppies just today. They were fine & watered in the morning, then completely dried up & keeled over when I got home from work. I guess I can plant more and my white linen poppies still look good (fingers crossed). I have a LOT of lobelia sprouting (do those teeny tiny little sprouts really turn into a whole plant?) I think some of my petunias just came up too. My sweet peas and cosmos are outgrowing their little milk carton homes. I really do want the hanging baskets, so these suggestions will help me a lot! I wish I didn't have to work and had more time to plant things! Okay, gotta run & hope to post more soon!

ditto on the coco baskets - they look so pretty but the first year i tried them everything dried out and died as soon as it got hot. last year i used the soil moist mats and lined them with grocery store bags, that worked a little better. using diaper crystals is a great idea! the other useful baby product i found was the little bottles children's tylenol comes in - punch some holes all around and bury it in the basket to fill with water. poor man's ollas. someone should make plastic hanging baskets disguised as coco-mat baskets on the outside.

Mayberry, thanks for the hint about using the soil moist mats. I didn't know they existed. I have new lined hanging baskets to plant and want to insure their survival. Are these widely available? Big box stores too? I checked their website, but didn't find anything local.

Connie

"The hanging indoor plant would be purchased just for the purpose of hanging outdoors this Summer and then moved indoors in the Fall. It will have a very "special" location. First of all, it is mostly out of the wind and has sunlight for about 4 to 5 hours thru the morning, no afternoon sun."

I'd definitely recommend ivy-leaf geraniums, then. The trailing petunias will also work well. They'll stay alive and blooming indoors for quite a while.

You could add a couple of annuals to the pot for the summer, knowing that they'll die off as the perennials start growing bigger in the fall.

Loved the idea of Vinca major Aurea so much that I put some from the garden into the hanging baskets. Now my question sykbird, will they overwinter in the baskets and if so, what kind of winter care will they require? What else would fill in the center and add height?

Bonnie