A little ragged after over wintering, but a good head start.
Gardening on a budget
If like me, you make the most of your garden by extending your growing area with plenty of hanging baskets, you will soon realise that it can be a rather expensive hobby. I usually plant 7-8 plants in a 14″ basket and between 12-15 in a 20″. For my 4 x 20″ baskets I need between 50 - 60 plants each retailing at about 80p per plug. That means I can spend about £50 per season on just 4 hanging baskets! Quite an expense in my mind, especially as I like to change my displays in Spring and once again in Autumn every year.
Of course, there are cheaper ways of achieving great results. You can raise your plants by seed. This is very cost effective and will result in plenty of plants for your displays. This can be time consuming and results may vary a little year after year.
Recently, I have started to take cuttings of my favourite hanging basket plants, over-winter them in a frost free environment and re-basket them in spring. Not only do I save a fortune, but I will have a good number of strong plants, bigger than can raise from seed or purchased from my local garden centres.
You may get a little bored of the same flowers, year in, year out; try mixing your cuttings with new plants from your garden centre, or from seed sown earlier in the year. Here are a selection of common hanging basket plants that I have had plenty of success with from over-wintered cuttings.
Recommended Hanging Basket Plants from cuttings
 Bacopa c. 'Snowtopia White' |
 Fuchsia |
 Ivy leaf Geranium |
 Bidens |
 Busy Lizzie (Impatiens) |
 Mimulus - Monkey Flower |
 Begonia |
 Calibrachoa Mini Petunia |