At the start of the summer, I was very excited about the prospect of some spectacular hanging baskets. Last year I have to admit they were beautiful, full of colour and interest right until late September.
I had chosen to clash pink petunias to trail down a wall basket, purple and white petunias for a contrast. A wonderful basket showcasing lots of pinks with a hint of white and a bold yellow and orange mix.
However, this summer it did not work out quite as I had planned.
None of the trailing flowers really trailed, the petunias that were meant to tumble did not tumble, in fact, the plants did not really grow very much. The purple one's barely flowered, it left me with lots of pretty white flowers but no purple to contrast against. The Calibrachoa Cabaret in white, Calibrachoa Goldrush and the Bacopa Snowflake were supposed to gently trail down the side of the baskets, they produced some pretty flowers but again they never really seemed to flourish.
However, some of the more unusual flowers I planted worked really well. I am very much a give it a go gardener, I tried Osteospermum which was a lovely bold orange and Argyrantemum in a sunny yellow. With careful deadheading they flowered really well and looked stunning, just the effect I was looking for. The Nemesia called pink ice, wow, this one has flowered for the whole summer and has been reaching for the sky.
It has been a bit of a reality check after last year. As you can see we have some real success in the form of nontraditional hanging basket plants.
The traditional plants fared less well, but let's be honest the weather was not kind. Every time we had the torrential rain the plants that were designed to trail were hit hard, as soon as they tried to recover we had more rain. If we had a few sunny days they really perked up, then it would rain hard. I made a massive mistake in thinking because it rained I did not need to water... NO this is not the fact and the poor plants got rather dry.
I will be back again next year with more baskets and plans. Maybe even some spring ones. I want to try and grow some plants from seed as I love Inca Gold which is small trailing sunflowers.
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| Lots of yellows and whites from last year |
I had chosen to clash pink petunias to trail down a wall basket, purple and white petunias for a contrast. A wonderful basket showcasing lots of pinks with a hint of white and a bold yellow and orange mix.
However, this summer it did not work out quite as I had planned.
None of the trailing flowers really trailed, the petunias that were meant to tumble did not tumble, in fact, the plants did not really grow very much. The purple one's barely flowered, it left me with lots of pretty white flowers but no purple to contrast against. The Calibrachoa Cabaret in white, Calibrachoa Goldrush and the Bacopa Snowflake were supposed to gently trail down the side of the baskets, they produced some pretty flowers but again they never really seemed to flourish.
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| The Purple and White Petunias that never really got going |
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| The trailing flowers that did not trail |
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| We did have some stunning flowers |
The traditional plants fared less well, but let's be honest the weather was not kind. Every time we had the torrential rain the plants that were designed to trail were hit hard, as soon as they tried to recover we had more rain. If we had a few sunny days they really perked up, then it would rain hard. I made a massive mistake in thinking because it rained I did not need to water... NO this is not the fact and the poor plants got rather dry.
I will be back again next year with more baskets and plans. Maybe even some spring ones. I want to try and grow some plants from seed as I love Inca Gold which is small trailing sunflowers.
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| Last years hanging baskets |
I love hanging baskets and intend to give them a good go next spring! x #Blogstravaganza
ReplyDeleteCan not wait for the spring ones to come along. Lots of time to plan 😂
DeleteI love hanging baskets, but invariably forget to water them and am left with very sad looking things #blogstravaganza
ReplyDeleteHahaha the problem with mine too. Not easy is it with busy livesxx
DeleteOh I wish I had your green fingers Sarah!!! I love pottering in the garden but am a complete amateur! We lost a few pretty blooms to the torrential rain too; the weather wasn't kind to the garden this summer wa it! You really seem to know your stuff and should be very proud of your results this year!!xx #Blogstravaganza
ReplyDeleteThank you so much. I am very slowely learning and finding it fun to try bits out. Hope people enjoy the honest approach. The rain was not good this year very damaging
DeleteI've been totally inspired again, these look so pretty! I've planted some bulbs after seeing your Instagram post, here's hoping I've done them right! Thanks so much for sharing and for co-hosting #Blogstravaganza, it's great to have you! Xx
ReplyDeleteIt was a pleasure to co host and fantastic news on the bulb planting xxx
DeleteThey may not have turned out quite as expected but the colours are wonderful! #Blogstravaganza
ReplyDeleteAgree and I just love the colours x
DeleteI love looking at hanging baskets and I did try them once but all that watering was waaay too much hassle. I'm not really a fan of flowers in my garden at all. Too much maintenance. But I do have some great blackcurrant and redcurrant bushes which smother all the weeds and fill my freezer with berries for the winter. Much more practical lol. #Blogstravaganza
ReplyDeleteSounds perfect to me and produce into the winter. I am rather a fan of a big flowers and lots of colour 😀😀
DeleteI literally don't have the first clue about gardening (until I had a child), and this year we planted sunflowers which actually turned out really well! These look lovely x #Blogstravaganza
ReplyDeleteWell done as mine were a disaster. It's great when something grows and you have done that x
DeleteThese look so beautiful! I have struggled with our flowers this year - but you have inspired me to keep going with them! #blogstravaganza
ReplyDeleteI think the weather did not help us this year and hope we can both have better results next year
DeleteI keep telling myself that I will try gardening and flower baskets etc but I never get round to it - next year maybe?! #Blogstravaganza
ReplyDeleteThey are so pretty and brighten up an area X #Blogstravaganza
ReplyDeleteThey look absolutely beautiful - even the ones that haven't quite gotten going! I keep looking at the empty spaces where I should hang baskets and thinking 'maybe next year' #blogstravaganza
ReplyDeleteMy dad always has hanging baskets around the garden but we have none in ours :( they are so pretty #blogstravaganza
ReplyDeleteKeep learning and growing different things. #Blogstravaganza
ReplyDeleteIt wasn't a great summer for delicate flowers this year, was it? I think they still looked really pretty though. #Blogstravaganza
ReplyDeleteI've just inherited some hanging baskets so thought I'd give them a go next year but I'm hearing you on the watering so will bear that in mind - water retaining pellets? Love the idea of trailing sunflowers!
ReplyDeletei am going to try dalefoot compost wool one as its meant to be excellent at water retention in hanging baskets. Maybe worth having a look. Def give it a go xxx
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