How to Choose Flowers for Hanging Baskets

Pick a location for your hanging baskets and determine how much sunlight is in the space during the day. This knowledge will affect what flowers you can have in your baskets, as some can thrive in constant sunlight, while others cannot. For example, the scaevola flower can thrive in full sunlight, whereas the bacopa flower thrives in a mixture of sunlight and shade.

Add flowers that have complementary colors to one another. While some baskets contain two to three colors, others have up to seven to eight different colors. If you enjoy color, use a flower such as the calibrachoa. It comes in yellow, white, brownish-orange, violet, blue and different shades of each of the colors mentioned. The calibrachoa also grows up to three feet long, so the colors will hang off the side of the basket.

Arrange the flowers so you utilize the strengths of each flower. For example, mix the colors so the basket does not become categorized by colors. Also, place the vine flowers near the perimeter of the basket, so the vines can hang off the side of the hanging basket.

Limit the choice of flowers if you are decorating a small hanging basket. Stick to two or three different flowers for a small basket, so it does not become disorganized or less attractive.

Place a tall flower in the middle of the basket and plant smaller plants around the flower. Use vines or long-branch flowers near the perimeter, so they can hang off the side of the basket. Choose one tall flower, a few smaller flowers and different types of vines for the perimeter of the hanging basket. An example of flowering vine is the licorice vine, which hangs two to three feet below the basket.