HANGING BASKET IDEAS

Beautif ul BASKETS

Smarten up your front garden with hanging baskets that will burst with blooms from spring until the end of summer

lanting up a hanging

Pbasket is an easy, enjoyable job for a spring day. In a few weeks’ time it will transform into a boule of tumbling foliage and flowers, and then remain a mass of cheering colour throughout summer. Adding foliage plants such as compact carex, silver-leaved artemisia or purple sage, and incorporating flowers in striking colours like burgundy or orange are two simple updates. Single blooms are also good – they not only look more contemporary but will provide for wildlife, too.

For those who like to keep things simple, there are lots of plants that look good in a basket on their own. Trailing begonias (such as Devotion) or

Lotus berthelotii provide a touch of the exotic. Or try a procumbent (groundcover) rose such as the red-flowered

Suffolk, which attracts bees and hoverflies.

Finally, if you love growing your own – particularly important for many given the events of 2020 – there are edible crops that thrive in hanging baskets. Seek out trailing rosemary, mint and thyme, as well as dwarf and trailing forms of strawberry (Just Add Cream is a good pick), tomato (‘Tumbler’ and ‘Hundreds and Thousands’ are both excellent) and blackberry (try ‘Black Cascade’).

Once you’ve planted it up you can ensure your basket looks good for months by deadheading and watering regularly: never let it dry out. And, once a week, add liquid tomato food to the watering can. Take these simple steps and your hanging display will be a mass of flowers all summer long.

Line baskets with recycled plastic or coconut fibre

BASKET RECIPES

COTTAGE STYLE

Diascia ‘Apricot Queen’

Produces its pretty peachapricot flowers from June to October; ideal for well-drained, moist baskets in sun or semi-shade. Protect from slug damage if your basket will be positioned against the wall (rather than hanging free). H: 30cm (1ft)

Pelargonium ‘Pink Capricorn’

Gorgeous mauve-pink flowers will adorn this gently trailing pelargonium for months – just as long as you grow it in sun and keep deadheading. The leaves have a delicious scent of lemon and rose. Sometimes sold as ‘Pink Capitatum’. H: 45cm (1.5ft) Lathyrus odoratus var. nanellus ‘Pink Cupid’

A dwarf sweet pea that looks lovely tumbling down from a hanging basket. Cutting the scented flowers will encourage it to produce more – over a long period. Needs a moist, well-drained basket in sun. H: 20cm (8in)

COLOUR POP

Petunia ‘Viva Red’

The bright crimson trumpets glow red in the sun, while the gently trailing habit and long-flowering period make it ideal for summer baskets. For a similar effect in a darker red, Tidal Wave Red Velour is your best bet. H: 30cm (1ft) Calibrachoa ‘Can-can Black Cherry’

Rich and velvety, the blooms are maroon-black with golden throats, and plants have a gently trailing habit. Longflowering and robust; ideal for well-drained baskets in sheltered sun. H: 15cm (6in) WILDLIFE WONDER

Pelargonium ‘Rouletta’

Admired for producing very long trailing stems, these white flowers are edged with carmine so they stand out well against ivy-leaved foliage. A trailing gem for welldrained baskets in sheltered sun. H: 30cm (12in)

Convolvulus sabatius

The blue rock bindweed (sometimes C. mauritanicus) is a trailing plant that lures bees and butterflies to its funnelshaped lavender-blue flowers throughout summer. Performs best in sheltered sun. H: 20cm (8in) Glandularia ‘Sissinghurst’

Butterflies will visit the cheering clusters of magentapink flowers that coat this trailing vervain (you might find it sold as Verbena ‘Sissinghurst’) from May to November. Remember to keep deadheading. Full sun. H: 20cm (8in)

Heliotropium arborescens ‘Marine’

Heliotropes are frost-tender shrubs known as ‘cherry pie’, describing the perfume of the flowers. ‘Marine’ is compact compared. Grow in a welldrained basket that is kept moist, in sun or semi-shade. NB: Always wash your hands after handling. H: 30cm (1ft)