Oakleaf Green Blog

In Search of the Drought-Tolerant Hanging Basket

Posted June 15, 2009 by Andrew

EDITOR’S NOTE: This post was featured on About.com’s Guide to Container Gardening — thanks so much, Kerry! If you’re not familiar with Kerry, she’s terrific. Be sure to click that link and check her out.

I’d like to add containers to my repertoire, but I find annuals a necessary part of container gardening, and as a sustainable gardener annuals have never been my thing. Even so, they’re a lot of fun, and I reasoned if purchased from an organic grower, grown sustainably through the season and composted in the end, what’s the harm in a few here and there? Our old house and others who inhabit it beg for hanging baskets every year, so I decided to start there.

Step one was done: I’d found materials and an organic grower. Three wire hanging basket frames came from the local flea market for a grand total of $1. (Logistically AND financially sustainable, eh?) At a fabric store, I bought inexpensive burlap to line the baskets that will eventually break down. I decided to buy plants from Goose Cove Gardens of Gloucester, Mass., the only organic nursery I know of.

Then came the more difficult part: what to plant, and what to pot up my plants in that would feed them through the season and ensure I won’t have to water every day — one of my personal pet peeves. I chose an organic mulch/compost mix, often sold as “dark performance mulch,” reasoning that between the soil the plants were potted in and the compost, there’d be enough medium for their roots, and the mulch would retain moisture.

Even so, drought tolerant plants were in order. I needed plants sun and shade, and I asked friends on Twitter for ideas. We generated a shopping list I took with me to Goose Cove, and here’s what I ended up with:

Sun baskets:

• Dorotheanthus ‘Mezoo Trailing Red’
• Portulaca in a peachy pink
• Osteospermums, lavender and purple
• Ornamental pepper, Capsicum annuum ‘Black Pearl,’ whose drought-tolerant status I’m least sure of
• And special for the front door basket, Hyacinth bean, Lablab purpureus.

Shade basket:

• Thunbergia alata ‘Suzie’ in yellow
• Begonia ‘Illumination Salmon Pink’
• Begonia ‘Nonstop® Apple Blossom’ in white
• Nicotiana alata ‘Perfume Mix,’ again, skeptical of this one and drought tolerance, but I needed something tall, so we’re giving it a shot.

My question: how long can the pots go without water from me? It’s been about a month now, and so far so good. I watered the day I potted them up, but I’ve let Mother Nature take it from there. Thus far there’s been enough rain to sustain them — July and August will be the true test. If things begin to wilt, I’ll water from my rain barrels, but I’m hopeful everyday watering, at least, is a thing of the past.

Filed under Practice Makes Perfect | Leave a comment below

5 Responses to “ In Search of the Drought-Tolerant Hanging Basket ”

1. Pomona Belvedere Says:
   June 15th, 2009 at 8:09 pm

   I’m impressed at your innovation with hanging baskets, possibly the hardest containers to get into low-water-land. I’m currently running a series on water-saving container gardens; I had to work this out because I was living on a low well with ten other people. A hanging planter could use all of my main points: bottom watering, special soil preparation, mulching, and how and where you place them.

   And of course you’re right: knowing water-saving plants is key! But sometimes there are surprises in that department…

2. Kerry Says:
   June 15th, 2009 at 8:32 pm

   They are absolutely beautiful. Would love to see bigger images. I sometimes put a little plastic on the inside, bottom of hanging baskets to help with water retention. That said, I’ve never gone for a month between waterings!

   Great work!

3. Kerry Says:
   June 15th, 2009 at 8:34 pm

   P.S. No reason to only use annuals. I often go shopping in my gardens for perennials for containers.

4. mss @ Zanthan Gardens (Texas) Says:
   June 15th, 2009 at 10:09 pm

   I jumped over here from Twitter when I saw “drought tolerant”. Then I read the line that you hadn’t watered the pots in a month, letting Mother Nature take it from there. A month! And I thought, “Where are gardening!?!”

   Oh. Massachusetts. I guess Mother Nature does a little more work up your way. Down here it’s the devil’s own country.

5. Andrew Says:
   June 15th, 2009 at 10:33 pm

   Thanks, guys, for the comments!

   Pomona: You’re right, I’ve been surprised at some drought tolerant plants. I’ll check out your series.

   Kerry: Bigger image on the way! I do have to get my act together with perennials too. I like the way some people will use them in containers through the season and plant in fall. My choices were a bit limited since I wanted to do organic from Goose Cove, but it’s in the cards.

   mss @ Zanthan: Ha! You are SO correct — drought tolerant in Massachusetts is different than drought tolerant in Texas. I am fascinated with some plants you guys can grow that we can’t because of winter moisture and cold. But yeah, this was a rainy, cloudy month too. July and August really will be the true tests. Still, I’m SOOOOO glad not to be watering thirsty, store-bought, overfertilized hanging baskets like last year. Sheesh.