24 Trailing Plants for Baskets and Vertical Planters

Trailing plants, spilling out of hanging baskets and containers will always remind me of my grandparent’s garden. Waves of purple lobelia cascading over the sides of pots, or petunias up high in a basket glowing in the light of a sunset.

There’s something so joyous about the way these plants overflow and spill out into the garden. Their unkempt style creates an unordered yet beautiful mass of foliage and flowers. Instead of looking uniform and formal, trailing plants in hanging baskets and vertical planters create a more natural and wild look.

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Trailing plants for hanging baskets and vertical planters

Whether you’re looking to add some ornamental, trailing flowers to your vertical vegetable garden. Or fill a large hanging basket with a mass of trailing foliage and delicate blooms. These trailing plants are perfect for hanging baskets, vertical planters, window boxes, and any planters or pots where you’d like a cascade of foliage and flowers.

1. Petunia 

A hanging basket classic. Petunias are loved for the way they spill out of hanging baskets, often practically engulfing the whole thing in a mass of blooms.

They have simple green leaves and large blousy flowers that bloom from spring till autumn (or at least until the frosts hit).

Some of the best trailing petunia cultivars:

• Shock Wave Denim
• Easy Wave Pink Passion
• Midnight Gold

And a personal favorite of mine…

The Night Sky Petunia!

2. Begonias 

A colorful shade loving plant that looks amazing when spilling out of hanging baskets or a vertical planter. They have a more compact shape when compared to petunias, but still create a beautiful splash of dangling color.

Begonias are known for their showy flowers, but many varieties also have incredible leaf patterns too. If you’d like to include begonias with vibrant foliage, check out cultivars like ‘Candy Queen’ and ‘Maori Haze’. They’re both incredibly stunning plants with pink foliage.

Begonias are definitely a great option if you’d like to add trailing plants to a vertical planter.

Some beautiful trailing begonia varieties:

• Fragrant Falls Peach
• Dragon Wing White

3. Pansy 

Like petunias, pansy plants create a mass of flowers that tumble over the edges of pots and planters. Look for varieties that have more of a spreading habit.

There’s a cultivar collection called ‘Coolwave’ which has an amazing variety of cascading pansies. From ‘Coolwave Raspberry Swirl’ which is a beautiful dark pink and purple mixed with yellow to ‘Coolwave Blue Skies’, which has a beautiful vibrant blue/purple color.

Pansies are also one of the best plants to add to a winter hanging basket.

4. Creeping Thyme 

As a Mediterranean herb, creeping thyme doesn’t like to be sat in water-logged soil. This makes it ideal for growing in vertical planters or hanging baskets.

It produces trailing stems covered in tiny leaves and masses of purple flowers in the summer. Plus, it’s a great kitchen herb for a hanging basket too!

5. Nasturtiums

Loved for their beautiful fiery blooms, nasturtiums are always a cheerful addition to a small garden. Their large showy flowers tumble over the edges of window boxes or raised planters.

They’re great easy-to-grow flowers that children can grow in containers. Plus, the leaves and flowers of nasturtium are also edible, so it doubles up as a beautiful trailing plant and kitchen ingredient too!

6. Impatiens 

Like begonias, impatiens are colorful shade loving plants that will work well in a planter that doesn’t receive much sun! Their jewel-like flowers look fantastic when spilling over the edge of hanging baskets.

Impatiens (and begonias too) do prefer moist conditions, so if you’ve got them up high in a hanging basket, make sure you water them regularly. Daily watering would be needed in really dry weather.

7. Periwinkle (Vinca)

With long arching stems, periwinkle is a lovely plant to add to a hanging basket mix. There are some really beautiful variegated varieties with yellow and green leaves that hang over the edges of planters. Flowers come in a range of shades, but purple is the most common.

8. Creeping Jenny (Lysimachia nummularia)

Often known as Golden Creeping Jenny, the beautiful trailing foliage creates a cascade of golden leaves. It’s one of my favorite trailing foliage plants!

The warm, golden green of the leaves contrasts beautifully with the dark green leaves of impatiens or pansies. So it’s a great option for adding variety and a lush fullness to a hanging basket or window box. It would look lovely paired with another flowering plant in one of these metal hanging planters from Amazon.

9. Ivy 

Another plant for lush trailing foliage, ivy is definitely a must-have in a vertical planter. Tuck a few small plants around the edges of a hanging basket or at the end of a vertical plant for a cascade of foliage.

There’s quite a wide variety of colors and leaf shapes to choose from. I’m often drawn to the variegated varieties to add more color. Ivy roots can be pretty vigorous so if you’re planting in a vertical garden just be aware of how far it might want to spread!

10. Trailing Verbena 

Coated in clusters of dainty flowers, trailing verbena plants are an enchanting addition to hanging baskets and vertical planters. Their small flowers give a softer look compared to the showy blooms of begonias or petunias.

11. Lobelia 

A hanging basket classic. Lobelia is one of the most popular trailing plants for hanging baskets and vertical planters. They form a delicate mass of small leaves topped off with a haze of dainty, jewel-colored flowers.

Lobelia flowers last all summer long, often staying until the autumn frosts hit in September and October. You can usually always find plug plants at your local nursery or packets of mixed seed.

Some of my favorite lobelia varieties:

• Riviera Sky Blue
• Waterfall Blue Ice
• Crystal Palace

12. Mini Pumpkins 

Yep, that’s right! Pumpkins produce trailing vines that will hang over the edges of planters. While large jack-o-lantern pumpkins may not be ideal, there are mini pumpkin varieties that could hang down from a vertical planter.

You could even try out mini melon varieties and mini squash varieties too! Just be wary of their weight and use a DIY heavy fruit support if needed.

13. Tomatoes

Keeping the veg garden theme going, if you only have a window box or a tiny hanging basket, trailing tomato varieties could be a great addition. You can find many varieties with low-growing, compact growth, and a trailing habit.

Varieties like ‘Lizzano’ and ‘Tumbling Tom’ are two very popular tomatoes that you can usually find in most nurseries.

Of course, there are lots of other great edible plants for hanging baskets. Like strawberries! We’ll stick with trailing flowers for the rest of this list though!

14. Sweet Peas 

Usually known for climbing up a trellis or bamboo support, some sweet peas varieties also work well trailing from a planter too!

Dwarfing and patio sweet pea varieties are best as they’re not too vigorous. These varieties will happily overflow a planter and cascade downwards, instead of trying to climb up every available surface.

15. Ivy Geraniums

With tight clusters of small showy flowers, ivy geranium, sometimes known as ‘trailing geraniums’, tumble beautifully over the edges of baskets and vertical planters. They’re usually available in shades of pink, red, and white.

All geraniums would work well in a hanging basket, for a lush cascade of flowers, ivy geraniums have more of a trailing habit.

16. Dichondra 

Often used as a creeping ground cover, Dichondra makes an excellent trailing plant for baskets and vertical planters. They have tiny, lilypad-shaped leaves that sit on long trailing stems, adding lush trailing foliage.

Two popular varieties are ‘Silver Falls’ and ‘Emerald Falls. The ‘Silver Falls’ variety has unique, grey-green leaves that form a silvery waterfall of foliage. And ‘Emerald Falls’ creates a lush cascade of vibrant green.

17. Yerba Buena

This trailing beauty (Satureja douglasii or Clinopodium douglasii) is native to the US and parts of Mexico. It was a herb valued by Native Americans and was used in teas. It has a strong minty aroma and is a member of the mint family. 

In the wild, it forms low-growing mats, but in a hanging basket its lush, trailing stems cascade over the sides.

18. Calibrachoa 

Often known as ‘mini petunias’ or ‘million bells’, calibrachoa is a beautiful group of trailing plants. They produce so many flowers they literally tumble over the edge of hanging baskets and vertical planters.

Available in a huge variety of shades, from the shocking pink of ‘Can Can neon pink’ to the dusky orange of ‘Bumble Bee’.

19. Variegated Ground Ivy (Glechoma ‘Variegata‘)

A member of the catmint family, variegated ground ivy (sometimes known as Nepeta hederacea) has the familiar scalloped edges of catmint, however, it has a creeping habit.

Its foliage will cascade out of a hanging basket or vertical planter on long thin stems. This variegated variety with its cream edges is great for adding a bit of color variation.

20. Fuchsia 

The bobbing heads of fuchsia flowers are unmistakable and always a hanging basket favorite. Their arching foliage creates an overflowing look as the flower heads hang over the edges.

Available in blushing shades of pink and purple, fuchsias definitely add a romantic quality to the garden.

21. Swedish Ivy (Plectranthus)

Like Yerba Buena, and Variegated Ground Ivy, Swedish Ivy (Plectranthus) belongs to the mint family. It has lush, scalloped-edged leaves that grow on trailing stems.

There are several different varieties suitable for hanging baskets. Our favorite is ‘Plectranthus coleoides’, which is a variegated variety with a bright green color and white edges. It adds variety and contrast to a hanging basket filled with vividly colored flowers, like impatiens or begonias.

22. Licorice Plant

For gorgeous, soft trailing foliage see if you can find some Licorice Plants (Helichrysum petiolare). They have a similar appearance to Dichondra, with simple rounded leaves that are coated in soft hairs.

You can find them in a soft silvery color that really complements flowers with darker foliage, like impatiens or petunias. Or a variegated version, with soft green leaves that have a cream edge.

23. Aubrieta

A beautiful trailing perennial that becomes immersed in a sea of purple or pink blooms in the summer. The variegated varieties are really lovely. They’re almost like a variegated ivy and lobelia mixed into one! Great for having double the texture and color.

24. Blue Rock Bindweed (Convolvulus)

With distinctive, trumpet-shaped flowers, blue rock bindweed brings beautiful shades of pastel purple to a basket or vertical planter. The foliage is very dense and cascades beautifully over the edges of pots.

Trailing plants that hang from baskets or vertical planters can add amazing texture and color to your garden in unique ways. The way they naturally spill out from their container adds a relaxed look.

Have fun filling your hanging baskets and vertical planters with trailing plants!