The best hanging basket flowers for most Michigan porches come down to six plants. For full sun: petunias (Supertunia and Wave), calibrachoa, ivy geraniums, verbena, and lantana. For shade: fuchsia, tuberous begonias, double impatiens, and lobelia. Everything else on this list is a variation on that shortlist.
Every spring, customers come up to our wagons and ask the same question: what are the best hanging basket flowers for their porch? Short answer: it depends on how much sun you get and how often you're willing to water. Long answer is below.
We grow hundreds of hanging baskets every spring here at the greenhouse on 24 Mile Road. Some years we try new varieties, some years we stick with what works. After twenty-plus springs of doing this, we've narrowed it down to the handful of plants that really earn their spot on a basket stand — the ones that bloom from Mother's Day through the first hard frost in October without begging for attention.
This guide walks through our picks for full sun, for shade, and for the in-between. We also cover how to plant a basket that actually lasts, which we think is more useful than another generic list.
What makes a great hanging basket flower
Not every pretty plant belongs in a basket. A hanging basket flower needs to handle drying out fast, bake in the sun (or hide in the shade, depending), and bloom long enough to earn its keep.
Thriller, spiller, filler (and what we actually plant)
You've probably heard of the "thriller, spiller, filler" recipe. Something tall in the center (thriller), something mounded around it (filler), and something trailing over the edge (spiller). It's a useful shorthand.
For a hanging basket specifically, we lean heavy on the spiller. A basket lives above your head or at eye level, so most of what you see is the side of the plant cascading over the edge. The thriller matters less here than it would in a patio pot.
Our go-to pattern for a big 12-inch basket: one strong upright center plant (a geranium or a showy petunia), three mounding fillers, and three or four trailing spillers planted around the rim. Then we water like we mean it and let the plants do the rest.
Reading your porch: sun, shade, and wind
Before you buy a single basket, look at where it's going. How many hours of direct sun does that spot actually get? West-facing porches in Macomb County get roasted after 3pm in July. North-facing porches barely see any direct sun at all.
Six or more hours of sun a day is full sun. Three to six is partial sun. Less than three is shade. Wind matters too, because a windy spot dries baskets out twice as fast. If you've got a porch that catches the wind off the field, plan to water twice a day in August.
Put the right plant in the right spot and you're halfway home.
Best flowers for full-sun hanging baskets
Here's what we pack into our full-sun baskets every spring. All of these want at least six hours of direct sun and consistent water. They're the workhorses.
Petunias (Supertunia and Wave varieties)
Petunias are the most-planted hanging basket flower in America, and the reason is simple: they bloom until frost, they come in every color, and they handle heat. The newer Supertunia and Wave series don't need deadheading the way old-fashioned petunias did. That alone is worth the extra dollar or two per plant.
We grow a lot of Supertunia Vista Bubblegum (a bright pink that we can't keep on the wagons) and Wave Purple. Both will fill out a 12-inch basket on their own if you let them.
One thing to watch: petunias are hungry. Feed them every week with a water-soluble fertilizer and they'll thank you with blooms. Stop feeding and they'll start looking tired by August.
Calibrachoa (million bells)
Calibrachoa look like mini petunias, and a lot of folks actually prefer them. The blooms are smaller but there are way more of them, and they self-clean, meaning the spent flowers drop off on their own. No deadheading, ever.
They come in colors petunias don't: true yellow, deep red with yellow eyes, coral, almost-black. We plant them alone in smaller baskets or mix them with petunias in bigger ones. Same sun and feeding needs as petunias. Same long bloom time.
Ivy geraniums
Ivy geraniums are the classic European window-box plant. They trail, they bloom all summer, and they're more heat-tolerant than the upright zonal geraniums your grandma grew. If you want that cascading, layered look that shows up on Pinterest when you search hanging baskets, this is your plant.
They like full sun and they actually prefer to dry out a little between waterings, which makes them a good choice for folks who travel or forget to water on Tuesdays. Pink, red, lavender, and white are the usual colors.
Verbena
Verbena is the one plant on this list that we think is underrated. It spills beautifully, blooms in clusters of tiny flowers, and attracts butterflies like nothing else in the basket aisle. Superbena and Lanai series are the ones we grow.
It wants full sun and decent drainage. Don't let it sit in water. A good verbena basket looks like a waterfall of purple or pink flowers by mid-June and stays that way through September.
Lantana and bacopa
We're putting these two together because they both like heat and both cascade nicely, but they serve different roles. Lantana is a thug in the best sense of the word. It laughs at July heat, blooms in fireworks-bright orange, yellow, and pink clusters, and it's one of the longest-lasting hanging basket flowers you can plant in Michigan. Hummingbirds and butterflies love it.
Bacopa is the opposite personality. It's a delicate trailing plant with tiny white, pink, or blue flowers that looks like spilled lace. It's a classic filler between louder plants in a mixed basket. Pair bacopa with a strong petunia and the combination is hard to beat.
Best flowers for shade and partial-sun hanging baskets
Shade baskets are a different ball game. The plants below all prefer less than five or six hours of direct sun. These are the ones for the north-facing porch or the covered patio.
Fuchsia
Fuchsia baskets might be the most classic shade basket in the business. Those dangling two-tone flowers in pink, purple, red, and white look like ballerinas in mid-spin. Hummingbirds go crazy for them.
Fuchsia likes cool roots, steady moisture, and morning sun only. They struggle once July heat sets in. If you can give them a spot with dappled shade and keep them hydrated, they'll bloom from May into October. We sell a lot of them for porches that catch only early sun.
Begonia (tuberous and non-stop)
Tuberous begonias are the other heavyweight shade basket. The blooms are huge — some varieties push flowers the size of tea roses — and they come in oranges, yellows, pinks, and whites you don't see in most shade plants. Non-Stop begonias are the cultivated series that, true to their name, bloom non-stop from planting to frost.
They want filtered light, not deep shade, and moist but well-drained soil. Don't let them sit in water. A begonia basket on the east side of a house is basically foolproof.
Impatiens and double impatiens
The classic shade annual. Regular impatiens give you a solid wall of color in pink, red, orange, coral, purple, and white. Double impatiens (like the Rockapulco series) look like tiny roses on a cascading plant and they're what we personally put in our own shade baskets.
Impatiens like shade or partial shade, and they need water. If they wilt, water them right away — they bounce back fast the first time or two, but a few repeated wiltings will kill them. Plant them after May 15 because they have zero cold tolerance.
Lobelia and browallia
Lobelia gives you electric blue (sometimes purple or white) flowers on a trailing plant that looks great cascading over the edge of a shade basket. It loves cool weather, which in Michigan means it blooms like crazy in May and June, sulks a little in the heat of July, then bounces back in September.
Browallia, sometimes called bush violet, is less common but it shines in shade where most plants won't. Proven Winners' Endless Illumination is the series to look for. Violet-purple blooms that don't need deadheading and handle heat better than most shade annuals.
What flowers bloom all summer in hanging baskets?
This is the question we get asked more than any other at the stand. Short answer: the plants that bloom all summer in southeast Michigan hanging baskets are the ones that set flower buds continuously and self-clean (or don't need deadheading). Here's the Oliver Greenhouse list, in order of how reliable they are for us:
- Supertunia and Wave petunias
- Calibrachoa (million bells)
- Lantana
- Verbena
- Bacopa
- Double impatiens (for shade)
- Tuberous begonias (for shade)
The honest truth is that no flower will bloom 12 months in Michigan, because winter has other ideas. But the list above, planted in mid-May with decent care, will give you six solid months of color. That's about as good as it gets here.
Perennial flowers for hanging baskets (Michigan edition)
Most hanging basket plants are annuals, and there's a reason. Annuals put all their energy into blooming because they know they've only got one season. Perennials pace themselves.
That said, a few perennials do work in baskets. Trailing vinca (Vinca minor) gives you evergreen foliage and purple spring flowers. Creeping Jenny adds bright chartreuse trailing foliage that brightens up any combo. Heuchera (coral bells) works as a thriller in a shade basket and returns year after year if you plant it in the ground at the end of the season.
Our honest take: hanging baskets are an annual game in Michigan. The basket itself won't survive a Macomb winter outside, and most perennials don't love being rootbound in a container. But if you're willing to unpot the perennial and plant it in your garden in September, you get a two-for-one out of the basket.
How to plant a hanging basket that lasts
We build every basket the same way, and the method matters more than most people think. Here's what we do here at the greenhouse, and what we'd tell you to do at home.
When to plant hanging baskets in Michigan
Plant tender annual baskets — petunias, calibrachoa, impatiens, begonias — after Mother's Day. Our last frost in Macomb County usually falls around May 15, and a single late frost will flatten an impatiens basket overnight.
If you pick up a basket from us in early May, keep it in the garage or under cover on cold nights until mid-month. Or go ahead and hang it on warm days and bring it in when the forecast dips below 40°F.
For the full picture, we put together a guide on when to plant flowers in Michigan that walks through timing for annuals, perennials, and vegetables month by month.
Watering, fertilizing, and deadheading
Hanging baskets dry out faster than any other container, full stop. They're up in the wind, they're holding a lot of plant in a small amount of soil, and gravity is pulling water out the bottom every time you water.
In June and July, we water daily. In August, sometimes twice a day. The test: stick a finger an inch into the soil. If it's dry, water until water runs out the bottom. If it's still moist, wait.
Fertilize weekly with a balanced water-soluble food (20-20-20 or a bloom formula). If your basket came from us, it already has slow-release fertilizer mixed into the soil, but that runs out by July, so start supplementing by mid-June.
Deadheading (pinching off spent flowers) extends bloom life on plants that need it — old petunias, geraniums, fuchsia. Self-cleaning plants (Supertunias, calibrachoa, bacopa, begonias) don't need deadheading at all. The modern varieties are genuinely easier than what your grandparents grew.
Our favorite basket combos from the greenhouse
We make a lot of baskets in the winter and early spring, and some combos we come back to every year. Here are three we'd put on any porch in Macomb County:
- Full sun: Supertunia Vista Bubblegum petunia as the center, lantana around it, and bacopa trailing over the edge.
- Partial sun: Calibrachoa (yellow or coral) with trailing verbena and a spike dracaena in the middle.
- Shade: Non-Stop begonia in the center, double impatiens around it, and blue lobelia spilling over.
Come see what's on the wagons in May and we'll walk you through what we put in this year. No two seasons are exactly the same.
FAQ: hanging basket questions
What are the best flowers to put in hanging baskets?
For full sun, we'd start with petunias, calibrachoa, ivy geraniums, verbena, and lantana. For shade or partial sun, go with fuchsia, begonias, impatiens, and lobelia. The common thread is a trailing habit, a long bloom time, and heat tolerance once Michigan summer settles in.
What flowers last longest in hanging baskets?
Supertunias, calibrachoa, and lantana are the three we see coast from Mother's Day to first frost with the least fuss. Ivy geraniums and verbena are right behind. All of them want steady water, sun, and a regular feeding to keep pushing blooms.
Which plant gives 12 months of flowers?
In tropical climates, plants like bougainvillea, hibiscus, and lantana can bloom year-round. In Michigan, nothing does. Our outdoor growing season runs roughly from Mother's Day to the first hard frost in October. The right plant mix can give you six months of color outside, and you can extend a few weeks with pansies in April and mums in September.
How often should I water a hanging basket?
Once a day in June. Sometimes twice a day in July and August, especially for baskets in full sun and wind. Stick a finger an inch into the soil — if it's dry, water. If it's moist, skip.
How long do hanging baskets last?
A well-cared-for basket from a local grower should look great from when you hang it in May until the first hard frost in October. If yours is looking tired by July, the fix is almost always more water, more fertilizer, or a good shear to force new growth.
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We're Oliver Greenhouse, a family flower stand on 24 Mile Road in Macomb, Michigan. We grow hanging baskets, porch pots, and annuals right here at the greenhouse. Come see what's on the wagons this spring — we're happy to help you pick out something that'll work for your porch. Find us here.