Hanging Basket Review - Success

This year I planted my first ever hanging baskets. We had always brought them but I really wanted to try and plant my own. Having never planted one before it was a real exercise in seeing what would and would not work.

I am going to do two posts, one to look at how they were a success and the following to look at what I will change next time.

But let's concentrate on what went right to start with. Please note the following post contains lots of pictures of pretty flowers

Yellow and whites:

For the hanging basket, I chose Petunia Surfinia in Yellow and Snow.

These Petunia were truly majestic. They provided us with all summer with cascading flowers that were a real show piece. I loved the simple and slightly muted white and yellow. But next year I may go rather bolder and choose some really bright colours, bring on the pink and purple theme.

When they were first planted

Full Summer Flower after a month or so of growth

The yellow and the white looking beautiful together

Bacopa Guliver White and Bidens Golden Glory. I loved this wall basket, the stunning bright yellow Bidens flowers were abundant all summer long. Teamed together with the flowing white Bacopa which really complimented the yellow Bidens and added beauty as they trailed down the front of the basket.

When first planted not many flowers to see

Then the blooms came and came and came

Shows the yellow and the white looking stunning together

The orange based hanging basket:

Lantana Camara Lucky Red Flame is the slightly taller plant, the trailing plants are Million Bells this is a Calibrachoa (mini petunia) Cracking Fire and the white ones are Calibrachoa Calita Double White

I adored the Orange, this was a smaller basket not the great swathes of flowers produced by the large petunia or the yellow Bidens. But I loved the bright orange and yet it was somehow restrained and beautiful. 

Looked so empty when first planted

I love the orange and the white together with the mix of flowers

The pinks and purples hanging basket

Two taller Aztec Verbena in Violet, the trailing are Bacopa Topia Blutopia these are the small little soft purple flowers and Calibrachoa Calita Rose the darker pinky trailing flowers

I love the pink and purple combination and it worked really well. They provided a bright and really pretty display all summer. The Verbena stood tall and proud adding the real height to the display. I loved the two cascading flowers mixed together, the small delicate Bacopa Topia Blutopia the smaller flowers combined with the Calibrachoa Calita Rose.

Giving a hint of how lovely the pinks and purples would look

In full bloom they look so pretty together

Purple wall basket

The purple wall basket is made of one plant only Osteospermum Purple 2012 the label said they can deal with shade and they proved that they could. This basket has always caused me problems with its position, its pretty shady so it was great to find a beautiful flower that could tolerate it.

They started very slowly and I thought would never flower. However with some patience, careful deadheading and watering they finally grew into this. They are stunning tall flowers which have done really well in this tricky area.

Did not look happy when first planted

Careful deadheading and watering they came back

Then they came into flower and those flowers were stunning

What simple steps did I follow to make sure they worked

Careful watering, I used a watering can once a day to give a good soak right into the basket, this seemed to do the trick. I tried with the hose but it seemed to damage the flowers and not get the water where is was needed.

Deadheading, this was crucial. The Verbena and Osteospermum I cut to the next leaf growth and they flowered again. All the rest I simply pulled of the deadheads and they re-flowered all the summer. I made sure I did this once a day only for five mins or so and it made a huge difference.

It may seem simple steps but it worked. I am sure the wonderful sunshine we had helped as when it rained they looked very sorry for themselves.

What also was a delight to see was they were alive with insects, an aim of the garden has always been to attract wildlife. To hear the hanging baskets hum with insects was just wonderful and to me made them a even bigger success.