A good hanging basket looks full, spills over the edges, and keeps blooming long after spring planting. The trick is picking plants that fit your light, your heat, and how often you can water.
Below are the best plants for hanging baskets, sorted by sun, shade, foliage, edibles, and tough heat lovers.
I’ve included 20 picks in total. Each one comes with its light needs and one care tip, so you can mix and match without guessing.
How to Choose Hanging Basket Plants
Choose plants that match your light, handle fast-drying soil, and grow in a mounding or trailing shape. Then group plants with the same sun and water needs in one basket.
Match Plants to Your Light
Light is the first filter. Watch your spot for a full day before you shop. Full sun means 6 or more hours of direct light. Part shade means about 3 to 6 hours, ideally morning sun. Full shade means less than 3 hours.
Plant tags help, but your porch is the real test. A spot under a deep roof overhang often gets less light than you think. A west-facing wall can bake in the afternoon.
My advice: never mix a sun lover and a shade lover in the same basket. One will always struggle.
Think About Water and Basket Size
Hanging baskets dry out fast. In summer, check them every day. Small baskets, or baskets in heat or wind, may need water twice a day. In spring and fall, every 2 to 3 days is usually enough.
Bigger baskets hold more water, so I lean toward 12 to 16 inches or larger. A large hanging basket with a coco liner is a classic pick.
Coco liners breathe well and look natural, but they dry out fastest. Plastic-backed liners and self-watering baskets hold moisture longer.
Fill it with a hanging basket potting mix, never garden soil. Garden soil packs down and drains poorly in containers. Skip the rocks or gravel in the bottom too. They raise the wet zone and do not improve drainage.
Use Thriller, Filler, Spiller
This simple formula makes choosing the best plants for hanging baskets much easier. A thriller adds height or a focal point. A filler adds bulk in the middle. A spiller trails over the edge.
In a hanging basket, spillers do most of the work. Fillers keep the top from looking bare. Thrillers are optional, since most people see baskets from below or the side.
Here’s how basket size relates to plant count:
| Basket size | Plants | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 10 inches | 2 to 3 | Dries fast, needs frequent watering |
| 12 inches | 3 to 5 | Good all-purpose size |
| 14 to 16 inches | 5 to 7 | Holds water better, fuller look |
Leave about 1 inch below the rim when you fill the mix. That space lets water soak in instead of running off.
Best Flowering Plants for Full Sun
Petunias, calibrachoa, verbena, scaevola, and ivy geranium are top choices for full sun. They bloom heavily, trail well, and handle long, bright days.
Petunias and Calibrachoa
1. Petunia. Light: full sun. Petunias are the classic basket flower, with big blooms in nearly every color. Trailing types spill several feet over the edge.
Care tip: cut them back by one-third to one-half in midsummer if they stretch out. They regrow in about 2 to 3 weeks, especially if you feed and water right after trimming.
2. Calibrachoa (million bells). Light: full sun. These look like tiny petunias and bloom nonstop. Most newer types do not need deadheading.
Care tip: watch for yellow leaves between green veins on new growth. That’s usually iron deficiency, common when the mix pH runs high. A chelated iron product or an acid-forming fertilizer fixes it.
Both plants come in strong pinks and purples. If that’s your color scheme, check out these hanging plants with pink and purple flowers for more ideas.
Verbena and Scaevola
3. Verbena. Light: full sun. Trailing verbena forms clusters of small flowers in purple, red, pink, and white. Butterflies love it.
Care tip: keep air moving around it. Verbena can get powdery mildew when crowded, so don’t pack it in too tightly.
4. Scaevola (fan flower). Light: full sun. Scaevola has fan-shaped flowers, usually blue or purple. It handles heat well and rarely needs deadheading.
Care tip: let the top inch of mix dry slightly between waterings. Scaevola dislikes soggy roots more than many basket plants.
Ivy Geranium
5. Ivy geranium. Light: full sun, with some afternoon shade in very hot areas. It has glossy, ivy-shaped leaves and clusters of pink, red, lavender, or white blooms. The trailing habit makes it ideal for baskets.
Care tip: snap off faded flower clusters. Deadheading keeps new blooms coming all season.
If your sun basket starts looking thin and stringy by July, you’re not alone. Here’s a full breakdown of what causes leggy hanging baskets and how to fix them. Low light, skipped pinching, heat, too much nitrogen, and drying out are the usual culprits.
Best Plants for Shade
Fuchsia, begonia, impatiens, torenia, lobelia, and ferns all thrive in shaded hanging baskets. They give you color and texture on covered porches and north-facing spots.
Fuchsia and Begonia
6. Fuchsia. Light: part shade to shade. Fuchsias have dangling, two-tone flowers that look like little dancers. They’re a favorite of hummingbirds, which prefer tubular red, orange, and pink flowers with little scent.
Care tip: keep fuchsias out of hot afternoon sun and keep the mix evenly moist. They drop buds when stressed by heat or drying out.
Want more flowers that bring in hummingbirds? See my list of hanging plants that attract hummingbirds. Skip pesticides around these plants to keep the birds safe.
7. Begonia. Light: part shade to shade. Trailing tuberous begonias, dragon wing begonias, and similar types work well in baskets. They offer bold flowers and handsome leaves.
Care tip: water at the soil line, not over the leaves. Begonias are prone to rot when they stay wet.
Impatiens and Torenia
8. Impatiens. Light: shade to part shade. Impatiens give solid color in deep shade where little else blooms. They form a neat mound that fills a basket fast.
Care tip: they wilt dramatically when dry, so check them daily in summer. They usually perk up quickly after a deep drink.
9. Torenia (wishbone flower). Light: part shade. Trailing torenia has small, snapdragon-like blooms in blue, purple, pink, or yellow. It’s a strong choice for spots where impatiens have struggled.
Care tip: feed it regularly. Torenia blooms best with steady nutrients through summer.
Lobelia and Ferns
10. Lobelia. Light: part shade. Trailing lobelia makes a cloud of tiny blue, purple, or white flowers. It looks lovely spilling over the edge of a mixed basket.
Care tip: lobelia often fades in summer heat. Shear it back and keep it watered, and it often rebounds as temperatures cool.
11. Boston fern. Light: shade to bright indirect light. Boston ferns are the classic porch basket. Their arching fronds give a full, lush look without flowers.
Care tip: never let a fern dry out completely. Crispy brown fronds are a sign it needs more water or more humidity.
Ferns also work well indoors. If you’re growing inside, try low-light indoor hanging plants. Indoor hanging plants usually need water every 1 to 2 weeks, when the top 1 to 2 inches of mix are dry.
Trailing Foliage Plants
Sweet potato vine, creeping Jenny, silver dichondra, and licorice plant are my top foliage spillers. They add color and texture that lasts all season, even when flowers take a break.
Sweet Potato Vine and Creeping Jenny
12. Sweet potato vine. Light: full sun to part shade. Its leaves come in chartreuse, deep purple, and bronze. It grows fast and adds instant drama.
Care tip: trim it back whenever it starts to swamp its neighbors. Left alone, it can take over a whole basket.
13. Creeping Jenny. Light: full sun to part shade. This plant has round, golden-green leaves on long, flat stems. It brightens shady corners and contrasts nicely with dark flowers.
Care tip: keep it moist. Creeping Jenny prefers steady water and browns at the tips when it dries out.
Silver Dichondra and Licorice Plant
14. Silver dichondra. Light: full sun. It forms long, silvery curtains of small, round leaves. A single plant can trail several feet.
Care tip: let it dry slightly between waterings. It handles heat well but dislikes soggy roots.
15. Licorice plant. Light: full sun. Licorice plant has fuzzy, silver-gray leaves on stems that spread outward. It pairs well with pink, purple, and blue flowers.
Care tip: go easy on water. This one is more drought tolerant than most basket plants.
A Note on English Ivy
English ivy shows up in a lot of basket mixes. I skip it, because it’s invasive in some regions. It can escape into woods and climb trees.
If you love that look, choose the foliage plants above instead. They trail just as nicely and won’t cause trouble outdoors.
Edible Plants for Hanging Baskets
Everbearing or day-neutral strawberries, trailing cherry tomatoes, and herbs like thyme are the best edibles for baskets. Hanging them keeps fruit off the ground and away from some pests.
Strawberries
16. Strawberries. Light: full sun. Choose everbearing or day-neutral types. They fruit over a long season instead of one short burst.
Care tip: water consistently and feed regularly. Uneven watering leads to small fruit and stressed plants.
Hanging strawberries also keep berries clean and harder for slugs to reach. Birds may still find them, so check often once fruit starts to color.