Adding trailing plants to your outdoor or indoor pots adds instant appeal. Draped over the sides of a planter or suspended from a high indoor shelf, trailing plants are both eye-catching and perfect for filling any container. In this handy advice guide, we’ve picked our top 10 trailing plants for pots.
Top 5 outdoor trailing plants for pots
When it comes to choosing outdoor trailing plants, there is a huge variety available. So whether you’re looking to add dramatic pops of colour to your summer pots, or simply pack out your patio planters with some easy to maintain ‘spiller’ plants, you are spoiled for choice. Here are our top five trailing plants for outdoor pots.
What are the easiest trailing plants to grow?
Looking for easy to grow trailing plants for pots? Then look no further…
Lobelia ‘Wonderfall’
There’s very little not to like about the dainty beauty of lobelia. Lobelia has long been a hanging basket and container staple that is loved by beginner and seasoned gardeners. Available in a kaleidoscope of pastel and bright shades, lobelia is a carefree annual that is one of the simplest plants to grow. It has an incredibly long flowering period and will bloom in thick clusters from early summer right through to the first frost. Lobelia ‘Wonderfall’ Mix does exactly as its name suggests and will cascade like a wonderful waterfall down the sides of your outdoor planters.
Geranium Ivy
Geranium Ivy is a low maintenance outdoor perennial that has a satisfying trailing habit as well as being one of the easiest trailing plants to grow. For hot colour schemes you can’t go wrong with Geranium Ivy ‘Precision Burgundy Red’. A delightful bedding and container plant that is evergreen and produces the most glorious deep burgundy blooms throughout the summer. If you prefer a softer palette, the coral toned flowers of Geranium Ivy ‘Decora Pink’ will add sophistication to any outdoor pot. Both will trail to 30 cm and do best in a very sunny spot.
Which flowers will cascade over pots?
Create a fountain of flowers with these two top trailing plants for pots.
Trailing Fuschia
Think of outdoor trailing plants for pots and fuchsias may be the first flowers that spring to mind. Easy to grow, fuchsias will pack planters with their bushy growing habit and masses of pendulous two-toned blooms. The creamy white sepals and blush pink stamen of Trailing Fuchsia ‘Trudi Davro’ makes it a lovely choice to combine with darker toned geranium or pelargonium. Prefer a fiery colour scheme? Trailing Fuchsia ‘Dancing Flame’ produces a riot of hot orange and pink tones that tumble gracefully over the side of planters and pots.
Petunia Tumbelina
Petunia Tumbelina has to be one of the best trailing plants for pots. This enchanting annual has it all – beauty, scent, double flowers and the ability to trail up to a metre in length. Often found in summer hanging baskets up and down the country, petunia Tumbelina is ideal for keeping in tall planters. Petunia Tumbelina® ‘Belinda’ is a fast growing variety with prolific dark blue flowers that will cascade over the edge of your planters all summer long. And if you’re looking to add a real statement to your pots, Petunia Tumbelina™ ‘Bella’, with its large, frilly, bi-coloured double blooms, is all that you need.
Are there any trailing perennials?
Outdoor trailing plants are often annuals. But, there is one fabulous trailing perennial that will happily drape over the side of your outdoor pots – Dichondra ‘Silver Falls’.
Dichondra ‘Silver Falls’
The silvery-green foliage of Dichondra ‘Silver Falls’, or silver nickel vine as it’s commonly known, is as abundant as it is beautiful. It produces oodles of charming heart and kidney-shaped leaves, as well as small yellow-white flowers during summer. This herbaceous perennial looks so elegant spilling over the side of a planter or pot and unlike your favourite annuals, promises to return the following year.
Top 5 indoor trailing plants for pots
What is the best trailing indoor plant?
Indoor trailing plants for pots elevate the style of any room. Suspend them from a hanging pot, place on a high shelf, or simply let their long trailing foliage drape along a windowsill. Here are our top 5 trailing house plants for pots.
Variegated Ivy | Hedera helix
Hedera helix, or English Ivy as you may be familiar with, has to be the ultimate trailing plant for pots, both indoors and out. You can’t find an easier trailing evergreen if you tried. With its gorgeous, heart-shaped foliage, Variegated Ivy Hedera helix is a fabulous indoor trailing plant that is ideal for beginner house plant owners. Simply keep its soil moist (but not waterlogged) and place it in a bright room, with indirect light and watch it grow! Once this classic cascading plant starts to establish it will trail up to 50 cm, if not longer. Plus, as an added bonus, it will also help to purify the air.
Which trailing indoor plant likes direct sunlight?
As a general rule, house plants do not like bright, direct sunlight. But there are a few exceptions to the rule and the Tropical Pitcher Plant is one of them.
Tropical Pitcher Plant | Nepenthes Alata
You are most likely to come across Nepenthes Alata in the tropical forests of Madagascar or the Philippines. But, with a little care, the curious Tropical Pitcher Plant will also grow quite happily indoors in the UK. Perfect for sunny spots and for elevating from the ceiling, this trailing plant is adorned with long pitchers with teardrop-shaped throats, and lush green foliage. This fascinating plant is also carnivorous and uses its unique pitchers to trap and digest common household pests such as flies and spiders.
What is the prettiest indoor plant?
With so many indoor trailing plants for pots to choose from, it can be hard to decide. Here’s a few of the prettiest indoor plants for you to consider.
String of Pearls | Senecio Rowleyanus
Senecio Rowleyanus has to be one of the prettiest succulents you can find. Its trailing tendrils create a fountain of soft, pastel green pearl-like fronds. Unsurprisingly, this beautiful trailing plant is most commonly known as String of Pearls. Senecio Rowleyanus may not be the easiest house plant to care for, but keep it in a warm place with indirect light and slightly dry soil, and it will thank you with long trailing strings of up to 30 cm in length. A real ‘look at me’ plant that will add interest to any room.
Philodendron Scandens ‘Micans’ | Heart Leaf Philodendron
Low maintenance house plant required? Then look no further than the Heart Leaf Philodendron. The Philodendron Scandens ‘Micans’ will thrive in a humid and light location, making it the perfect choice for bathrooms and steamy kitchens. A pretty indoor plant that produces dark green, heart-shaped foliage that gracefully trails towards the floor. Keep its soil moist at all times and it will reward you by purifying the air in your house.
Sedum morganianum | Burro’s Tail
Whilst many jest about how hard it is to keep their house plants alive, Sedum morganianum gives hope to us all. This wonderful trailing plant is pretty much ‘unkillable’ and asks for very little in return for its beautifully unique appearance. Known as ‘Burro’s Tail’ or even ‘Donkey Tail’, because of its thick, bushy foliage, Sedum morganianum will flourish in bright, indirect sunlight. In summer, this popular succulent produces small, star-like flowers that contrast dramatically with its green leaves. Avoid overwatering and reduce watering during wintertime.
Nicola Clements has been working with brands and publications in the gardening and lifestyle sectors for many years. As well as regularly writing for The English Garden‘s website, Nicola is also a contributing gardening editor to Wildflower magazine. In her spare time, Nicola can be found pottering in her garden, where she hones her skills, ready to pass on her expert advice to amateur and seasoned gardeners.