Autumn is a time to embrace changes in seasonal colour, replenish spoiled or gone over plants, and start preparing for the colder temperatures.

If your hanging baskets have now gone over and need some TLC, you’re in the right place. Discover our top 5 plants for autumn hanging baskets to make your garden feel cosy and comforting this fall.

Plants with rich red and blazing orange tones are a stunning choice at this time of year because they compliment the colours of the trees. You could also opt for a sunset yellow colour scheme to add a tropical twist while still being in keeping with autumnal tastes.

Our Top 5 Plants for Autumn Hanging Baskets

Pansies

A sweet yet colourful choice for pots and hanging baskets alike, winter pansies such as ‘Frizzle Sizzle Yellow Blue Swirl’ or ‘Frizzle Sizzle Blue’, are a fantastic choices for planting in fall and enjoying throughout the colder months. The well known bedding plants are great for beginners as they’re easy to look after. You’ll often find pansies with almost face-like features, thanks to their often dotted dark centre.

 

For more information on winter pansies, read our ‘How Long Do Winter Pansies Last in the UK?’ guide.

Carex

Grown mainly for their typically evergreen leaves, carex are a grass-like plant and prove popular for year round interest. Carex can be used to bulk up your hanging basket so it looks more full, with its leaves dangling up over the edge of the basket in all directions. Carex generally comes in a range of colours, from yellowish green to bronze, bluish grey and purple.

Heather

Winter Heathers (Erica carnea) provide winterly floral interest and an evergreen display of attractive foliage. They’re a great shrub for brightening up your outdoor space during winter and are generally hardy through very harsh winters.

Ivy

Ivy, otherwise known as Hedera, is an evergreen climbing plant that when included into hanging baskets, beautifully cascades and trails down around your hanging basket. Ranging from light to dark green, Ivy makes a huge impact when planted with other flowers that have upward growth. The draping effect of the Ivy will adorn your archway displays throughout the autumn and winter seasons.

Cyclamen

Add a splash of colour to your garden from Autumn through to Spring with this dainty perennial. Bright flowers (often found in shades of pink, white or red) sit atop straight stems. Cyclamen are a hardy perennial that you can always rely on to provide colour in the colder months, even when little else is in flower in the garden.

Commonly asked questions

How many plants should I put in a hanging basket?

When creating a hanging basket, it can be difficult to know how many plants to add into your container. When planting up your hanging basket, a good guide is to plant one plant per inch of the basket’s diameter. If you had a 30cm (12”) basket, you’d plant around 10-12 plants. There is an exception to this when you’re planting up stronger growing plants (such as Fuchsias). In this case, you’d want to leave more space to allow for their growth – we’d recommend 5-6 plants per 30cm (12”) basket. Note: this will vary slightly depending on the sizes of the plants you’re planting.

How do you make a hanging basket look fuller?

Adding ornamental shrubs (such as Carex) will bulk up your basket’s instant impact thanks to its fuller look. Trailing ivy will also distract the eye from unsightly edges of the container and make it appear larger. In addition, using a specific type of basket can allow you to plant up the sides of your hanging basket and therefore give a fuller look, covering its entire surface area.

How can you keep hanging baskets looking good?

To keep hanging baskets blooming, we encourage you to keep up a regular feeding schedule. For best results, add a slow release fertilizer to the compost when planting and add light doses of liquid fertilizer into the soil every few weeks.