HO-126
Hanging Baskets
HOME YARD & GARDEN • COOPERATIVE EXTENSION SERVICE
DEPARTMENT OF HORTICULTURE • PURDUE UNIVERSITY • WEST LAFAYETTE, IN
by Juliarm Chamberlain

Suspended, mid-air gardens can be yours through the use of hanging baskets. A cascade of flowering and foliage plants can be easily grown in hanging baskets.
Those planted with annuals will flourish for one year and should be replanted in the spring. Hanging baskets planted with foliage plants can be grown for several years, depending on the plant type. Create your own hanging basket by following these simple directions.

Selecting Plants
Choose the right plant for your hanging basket. For large baskets, combine only those plants which require the same growing conditions and look pleasing together. For small containers, it is often better to use the same plant variety in each basket. And for very small containers, usually just one good-sized plant is enough.

Growth Requirements
Choose only those plants with similar requirements for sun and water. No matter how attractive a plant grouping may appear, unless the plants involved have similar growing requirements, their beauty will soon fade and they may die. Also, plants may overtake others and the balance of the basket may become out of proportion.
For help in selecting plants according to their environmental needs, refer to the Plant Selection Guide on page 4.

Design
Once you have made your selections, use your imagination. Try unusual color combinations, plant forms and unconventional containers for a unique design.
Design is not reserved for fresh flowers and foliage or dried materials. Any time a group of plants, or even a single plant, is assembled or used, some element of design must be considered.
Color
Use color for: direct contrasts (reds, greens or yellows, purples); in harmonious combinations (blues, violets, greens); or in a monochromatic scheme (all red). Consider yellow or purple pansies or all white petunias with lavender alyssum.
Use green foliage plants such as ivy, fern, and sprengeri fern, or the grey tones of dusty miller to provide a unifying and/or accenting effect. This is especially important when using boldly colored annual flowers.
Also, consider the color or colors of the hanging basket(s). They should complement the colors of the plant and location where the basket(s) will hang.

Form
Plants with trailing or vining forms are ideal for hanging baskets. Upright or erect plants can also be used, but they usually look best planted in the basket at a 45° angle. Interesting effects can be achieved through the grouping of contrasting plant forms. For example, the trailing lobelia combined with the upright geranium yields a contrast between the upright and trailing form.

Other considerations
Other elements to consider when designing your basket are:

Focal point-Where does the eye travel? If it is a large basket, there may be one larger, more noticeable plant. In small baskets, you may have just one plant, or the entire basket becomes the focal point.

Scale-Consider the size relationships between the plants, its container and the surroundings. Often the scale may change as the plants grow, but will the entire basket and its planting remain in proportion?

Proportion-This refers to the height, width, and depth of the basket and its plants.

Dominance-Does one plant dominate, or is the total effect created by all the plants?

Line-This gives a sense of direction to the eye. In most baskets, the lines are flowing and curved, rather than straight.