Popular Outdoor Hanging Plants
There are certain outdoor hanging plants that have been popularized because they have a higher resistance to heat, cold, or other weather conditions. Other hanging plants have earned their popularity simply through sheer natural beauty. Finding the best combination of hanging plants for your outdoor garden will involve researching your USDA Plant Hardiness Zone, talking with local nurseries or gardening associations to learn what types of outdoor hanging plants tend to fare better in your climate, and simply experimenting to see which types of hanging plants look and fare best in your home garden. Choose the hanging plants that are right for your climate and visual interest needs.
Choosing Types of Outdoor Hanging Plants
Hanging plants are often used to grow trailing vines, but short uprights combined with trailing vines, or all-inclusive plants that feature both an upright and a hanging component can also be good choices to add extra color and variety. These outdoor hanging plants enjoy ongoing popularity for both hardiness and visual appeal.
Begonia
The begonia family of plants are perennial flowering plants that are hardy to cold, heat, dry soil, and wet soil conditions. They produce lush, stunning blooms in red, white, yellow, or pink with a yellow center or "eye". As upright growers, select begonias when hanging baskets at eye level or lower.
Verbena
Verbena is a another flowering perennial that tolerates heat, cold, dry and wet soil conditions, and produces elegant trailing vines with white, lavender, purple, pink, or red flowers.
Licorice Vine
The licorice vine plant is a great trailing accent vine that produces greenish silver grey leaves that showcase other flowering upright plants very well. Licorice vine can tolerate heat and cold up until frost appears.
Spider Plant
The spider plant has variegated green and white striped long slender leaves and is great for both indoor and outdoor hanging baskets, although they are most often chosen for indoor use. It tolerates varying temperatures well except for direct midday sun and prefers enriched soil.
English Ivy
English ivy is a fast and flourishing grower that can be used well as an indoor or outdoor hanging plant. It can also be trained to grow up trellises, walls, or other structures, and because of this qualty it requires frequent pruning and maintenance.
Fuchsia
The perennial fuchsia plant comes in many varietals and is a great addition for its large double blossoms and deep purple and pink colors as the flowers hang down thickly around the edges of the basket or container. It tolerates heat extremely well but may not do as well in direct sunlight.
Lobelia
The lobelia plant produces what appear to be clouds of soft blue flowers as it blooms. It grows densely in a mounded formation with trailing vine-like branches from which the flowers extend. Often called "blue sky lobelia", this hardy annual tolerates heat very well and needs little maintenance.
Golden Pothos
The golden pothos plant produces large heart shaped green and gold leaves and can be grown well indoors or outdoors.
