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Sun hanging baskets


Best Hanging Baskets for Full Sun

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5 min read | Apr 4, 2017 | Plants 

Looking to add a colorful touch to your sunny porch or garden this spring or summer? A perfectly placed hanging basket filled with bountiful blooms could do the trick!

Full Sun Hanging Plants for Your Home

Not all hanging plants will be suitable for your porch. The right plant depends, in part, on the amount and intensity of sunlight received each day. (So if you’re in a shady spot, check out our blog on the best hanging baskets for shade!)

By selecting the right hanging plant and the right location, you can be sure of lasting color that spills out all season long. In this blog, we’re reviewing a few of our favorite full sun hanging plants that we recommend adding to your porch or yard! These hanging plants love full sun conditions and require at least 5 or more hours of direct sunlight each day.

1. Petunias

Petunias are a timeless garden favorite because they offer so many color choices and varieties. The Trailing and Grandiflora petunias are great options for hanging baskets, but you can also find varieties that work well in containers or as ground cover.

Petunias make this list because while they will grow in part sun they tend to bloom most prolifically in full sun. In full sun, it is important not to let the soil dry out when caring for these hanging plants outdoors. These plants like to be watered every day and sometimes twice a day in hotter months. Add fertilizer every two to three weeks for the best results.

Fairview Garden Center is regularly adding new varieties, so visit us this spring to find your perfect petunia!

2.

Million Bells

Million Bells are a gorgeous mounding and trailing summer annual. This popular plant blooms mini-petunia shaped flowers that come in a wide spectrum of colors. These bright flowers will attract hummingbirds and butterflies to your front porch or garden.

Like the petunia, million bells enjoy full sun to part sun; however, they tend to bloom more prolifically in full sun, making them one of the best plants for hanging baskets in full sun. The soil should be kept moist, especially in the hot summer months. Simply allow the surface soil to dry between waterings to avoid over-watering.

We’re happy to help you find the right million bells for your porch during your visit to our garden center.

3. Bougainvillea

The bougainvillea is a popular evergreen, shrubby vine that blossoms into colorful flower bracts. This sub-tropical vine is a riot of purple and red color when in bloom. New cultivars are beginning to bloom in apricot, orange, white, and yellow.

This full sun hanging plant can be trained to stand alone as a shrub or cover walls and spill out of beautiful hanging baskets. It can grow from 10 to 20 feet in a single growing season, but here in the Triangle, it won’t reach quite these lengths.

Bougainvillea requires full sun. As a drought-tolerant plant, it actually performs best when its soil is left a little dry. Come browse this hardy plant and other plants at our garden center today!

4. Portulaca

Portulaca comes in many vibrant colors like reds and pinks for full sun areas. As you shop for portulaca, you may find that it is also called yubi, purslane, or moss rose.

This plant is ideal for those who may not have as much time this spring and summer to water and fertilize on a regular basis. Portulaca is the perfect full sun hanging plant because it is extremely heat and drought tolerant. You won’t have to worry about this one!

To see our wide selection of portulaca, visit our Raleigh garden center. And if you’re looking for more inspiration and gardening tips, check out our blog.

5. Dragon Wing Begonia

The begonia is known for being a true workhorse. At Fairview Garden Center we carry many types of begonias, but one of our favorite full sun varieties is the dragon wing begonia.

This highly popular plant is incredibly easy to grow. As a heat-tolerant plant, the dragon wing begonia is one of the best hanging baskets for full sun. The dragon wing begonia’s dark-colored flowers flower profusely all season long, blooming very quickly and growing from spring through frost.

6. Sunpatiens

Impatiens are no longer just for your grandma’s shady garden! There is a wide variety of gorgeous hybrid impatiens that are perfect for the sun, shade, and everywhere in between.

Sunpatiens are a new type of impatiens that is unlike other traditional varieties, as it thrives in hot and sunny conditions. Although sunpatiens do not have a trailing habit, they provide high impact blooms from spring through frost and are great paired with other trailing plants in mixed baskets.  Consider sunpatiens when looking for full sun hanging plants that will add color and variety to your garden!

Visit Us At Fairview Garden Center

These are just a few of our Fairview favorite full sun hanging plants for spring and summer. Contact us today or stop by in-person to browse our greenhouses filled with beautiful blooms and pick your favorites from our many varieties. Our knowledgeable and friendly staff is here to help you pick the perfect full-sun basket for your space and lifestyle!

Page updated on July 19, 2022

Contact Us Today!

Hanging Baskets In Full Sun

Planting up your hanging basket in full sun requires a bit of thought regarding your plant choices.

Seek out plants that enjoy the heat and are also drought-tolerant, especially for those that will be in the sun from dawn to dusk.

When choosing your plants, think local. Your local garden center will usually keep those plants that do well in your area. Your County Extension Educator will also be able to advise on plants growing in local conditions.

How To Keep Hanging Baskets From Drying Out

The biggest problem with hanging baskets in full sun is the soil drying out, especially on sweltering hot days.

Always mulch as well as adding water retaining products such as crystals or granules, to your potting mix. They swell up and hold water and release the water into the soil over time. Adding these can reduce your watering times by half.

It is essential to feed these plants every week with a liquid organic fertilizer to produce blooms. Hanging baskets only have a limited amount of nutrient value in the potting mix, and the plant usually uses this during the first few weeks, especially with frequent watering.

Water before feeding the plant, so the basket stays hydrated before the feeding.

Water deeply making sure all the soil is hydrated.

How Often To Water Hanging Baskets In Full Sun

It is not likely that you will overwater a hanging basket in full sun as the surplus water runs out of the bottom. Feel the soil surface, and if it is dry, this usually indicates that the plants will need water.

On scorching days, you may need to water twice a day.

Make sure to water until the water flows out of the basket, making sure all the soil has been moistened.

If watering is inadequate, the soil will pull away from the edge of the basket, shrinking the soil ball slightly. The next watering will not saturate the soil but will go through the gap between dry soil and the side of the basket.

If the soil is excessively dry, place the basket into a bucket of water for about an hour. It will allow the water to be absorbed slowly through the bottom of the basket.

Hanging Baskets For Full Sun And Heat

Plants will try to cool themselves by transferring water to their leaves. Even drought-tolerant plants can become stressed in extreme heat.

Sometimes the leaves will wilt during excessive heat as a defense mechanism and should recover once watered, or temperatures drop.

Protect the plants from extreme heat by moving them temporarily during the heatwave. Or provide some shade for them, such as an umbrella.

Always make sure the plant has adequate moisture and water frequently during excessive heat.

Best Hanging Baskets For Full Sun

Choose the biggest basket for full sun as the larger baskets have more soil and will dry out slower.

Pelargonium / Geraniums

Geraniums are the most unappreciated flower. It gives so much color for so little care. Excellent in hanging baskets, especially the ivy variety.

Deadhead regularly and you will be rewarded with many new flowers.

Million Bells (Calibrachoa)

Easy to grow and easy to maintain - Million Bells are well known for their millions of flowers. They come in a variety of colors.

In the right conditions, Million Bells will look beautiful in about one month.

Million Bells is self-cleaning, meaning you never have to deadhead.

Petunia

Petunias look lovely but sometimes become a little "leggy." Give them a trim, cutting back by about 6 inches (15cm). This forces new flowers in about two weeks.

Even though Petunias love dry summers, never forget to water the hanging baskets regularly.

Portulaca (Moss Rose or Sun Rose)

Trimming Portulaca periodically helps with flowering. They love hot, dry weather and will die off when the temperature gets below 45 F (7 C).

Portulaca is easy to grow in containers. Water only when the top of the soil is dry.

Diamond Frost Euphorbia

A profusion of tiny white flowers makes this plant an ideal filler for the mixed plantings with broader leafed plants. Similar in looks to the baby's breath.

Lobelia

Lobelia will flower throughout the entire season. Lobelia is one of those plants that can be planted on the outside of the hanging basket flower ball as they give a cascading effect.

Flowers range from purple to violet, with added yellow or white on some varieties. It is an excellent hanging basket species.

Licorice Plant (Helichrysum Petiolare)

Licorice plants love hot sunny environments and have a slight licorice fragrance. Grown for their beautiful soft foliage, these delightful plants are drought tolerant and have low water needs.

Verbena

There are a series of verbena, which are long-blooming and are heat tolerant and do well in full sun. Give it a trim when it gets leggy.

Vinca (Annual Vinca)

Plant the trailing variety in hanging baskets and pinch Vinca blooms for a fuller plant. Water twice a day.

Very easy to grow and love the summer heat. Colors vary from white, pale pink to deep purple.

Black-Eyed Susan Vine (Thunbergia alata)

With their bright yellow and white flowers, Black Eyed Susan is easy to grow and needs little maintenance.

Pansies and Violas

Fill up the basket with Pansies and Violas. Yellow and purple look lovely together. Very popular as a cool-season annual in warmer climates.

Nasturtiums

Nasturtiums require little maintenance and bloom well in full sun. Trailing varieties work best in hanging baskets.

There are both single and double varieties, and the flowers are edible with a peppery flavor.

They do not require fertilizing, which will reduce their blooms.

Asparagus Fern

Flowers are rather insignificant, but the spiky foliage is striking. Keep it trimmed to the required length as the needle-like foliage can grow very long. Compact growing varieties are available.

Lantana

Butterflies and hummingbirds love Lantana flowers.

Lantana is a hardy plant that is perfect for hot sunny patios.

Maui Wormwood

They are grown for their soft bright silver foliage and look stunning as a single specimen in a hanging container.

Ornamental Sweet Potato Vines

The ornamental sweet potato vine has colorful foliage from light green to dark purple.

Herbs

Use a variety of sun-loving herbs in the same basket, such as Thyme, Prostrate or Creeping Rosemary, Oregano, and Prostrate Sage.

Growing herbs in a hanging container is easy, and the more you pick, the more it produces.

Many herbs, such as lavender, have beautiful flowers which are also edible.

Sedum (Donkey's Tail)

Long trailing succulent with pink/red flowers in summer. Let it dry out before watering.

Ornamental grass 

Look for a variety that does well in full sun, such as Leatherleaf Sedge, Orange New Zealand Sedge. 

Takeaways

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The structure is made of two layers of silicon semiconductors with different conductivity. When the upper “solar” layer, which acts as a cathode, is heated by sunlight, electrons from silicon atoms are “knocked out” by photons of light. After that, they flow to the atoms of the lower plate, which serves as the anode. From the bottom plate, the electrons move along the connecting conductors through the battery, charging it, and return to the top plate. nine0003

Depending on the structure of silicon crystals, there are three types of photocells for solar panels:

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The list of solar panel elements may include an inverter - a DC-to-AC converter. A stabilizer is designed to protect the system from possible power surges.

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In order to know how to choose the right solar-powered lamp, you need to correctly evaluate their advantages and disadvantages.

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It is important to consider not only the pros, but also the cons of this type of lighting element.

How to choose the right solar lamp

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Installation Rules

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How to turn on the solar light

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Solar garden lights

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How to choose a solar-powered luminaire

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Next, consider an issue that directly affects the cost of a garden lighting device. It depends on the purpose for which the owner intends to use a solar-powered lamp.

Permanent or emergency lighting

Permanent lighting of the local area is used quite rarely, with the exception of the need to illuminate the perimeter of the site, driveways or entrance groups of buildings. Here you can opt for models that provide for manual activation or options that provide for start-up when the overall illumination drops below a certain level. nine0003

Temporary area lighting

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Solar luminaire maintenance

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