Best Plants for Hanging Baskets on Balconies

Hanging baskets add a whole layer of planting to a balcony without using an inch of floor, but they live in the harshest spot: up in the wind and sun, in a small volume of compost that dries out fast. Success comes down to picking trailing plants that cope and staying ahead of the watering.

Trailing Plants That Deliver

The plants that make a basket spill over the edge are the trailing ones. Trailing petunias and their vigorous Surfinia cousins flower all summer, ivy-leaved pelargoniums shrug off heat and dry spells, and calibrachoa, the little million-bells petunia, foams with blooms. For softer texture, weave in trailing lobelia and bacopa, and in a shadier basket lean on fuchsia and trailing begonia instead.

The Watering Problem

A basket up in the wind can dry out in a single hot day, and once the compost shrinks away from the sides, water runs straight through without wetting the roots. Mix water-retaining granules into the compost when you plant, choose the largest basket you can hang, and in high summer expect to water daily, ideally in the evening so it does not evaporate before the roots drink. A basket with a built-in reservoir buys you a day's grace.

Feeding and Deadheading

All that flowering is hungry work in a tiny volume of compost, so start a weekly high-potash feed once the plants establish, and pinch or snip off faded blooms to keep petunias and calibrachoa producing rather than setting seed. A basket left unfed and unpicked stalls by midsummer; a fed and groomed one flowers until the frosts.

The Bottom Line

Plant trailing petunias, ivy pelargoniums, and calibrachoa in the biggest basket you can hang, mix in water-holding granules, then water daily and feed weekly through summer. Get the watering right and a hanging basket is the most flower for the least floor space on any balcony.