Get bigger pots. I think Calibrachoa (Million Bells) are one of the most spectacular hanging basket plants, but your pots should be bigger to provide a better (smaller) surface area to volume ratio. The bigger size has more volume for a given surface area. Surface area contributes to drying out.

KaBloom is a strain of Calibrachoa that you can grow from seeds. Several seed companies carry KaBloom seeds.

ZM

Assuming you're after something for mostly sun(?), Purple heart (Tradescantia pallida) would do well. Or moss roses (Portulaca grandiflora) & ornamental purslane (P. umbraticola.) Mezoo (Aptenia/Mesembryanthemum) should also be a winner.

Tiffany, all those look really good! I don't think I've ever seen any of those around here, except moss roses. Zen_man, I had no idea that Cals come in seed too. I'm so happy now because I love growing my plants from seed. And I happen to have a hot pink plant right now that looks like it's KaBloom from the pictures I saw online. Would those produce viable seeds or is it best to buy new? Thanks for your inputs!

Happy to share suggestions. The Tradescantia & mezoo are sometimes with house plants instead of landscape plants, if a store has them.

Love that pic! A mix of plants is what I prefer, especially if 1 of them is only interesting when/if blooming. Interesting & variously colored/shaped foliage saves the day!

You might want to consider lining the inside of the cocoa lining with plastic. I can't keep up with the watering otherwise sine the fiber lets the water through so well.

katob Z6ish, NE Pa... I lined my hanging pots with Sanitary napkins this year. So far it''s working but it's been a very wet year.

I love lobelia, moss rose, purslane, and torenia in mine. All are easy to wintersow.

How is this project progressing?

I tried to grow calibrachoa cuttings twice during the winters, but had no success. I did grow the cali seeds this last winter and they have grown well. I have mine in shallower pots like you are describing and did put the plastic in them. They are still alive and looking good, but I have to water them nearly every day now! Other plants I am using in hanging baskets are diascia, lobelia, petunias, and tuberous begonias.

Tiffany, at the time I posted this question, my baskets were already blooming with tidal wave petunias, so the question really was for next year. Tidal waves are NOT for baskets, but I didn't know that when I planted them from seed in February. They look horrible right now.

Maryjo, I will be growing those cali seeds next year, as well as bacopa. Arlene, thanks for posting that pic! I was hoping that someone would post a pic. IT's nice to see how they do. I really like that. I wanted something that would be overflowing like that, so I think I will do some bacopa, some cali and some vista bubblegum supertunia, which I can't grow from seed, but that's ok.

mkpearse, I grew some tidal wave hot pink petunias and put them in plastic hanging baskets and I love them. They are in filtered shade though and I think I didn't put too many plants in each hanging basket. There may be a little lobelia in there too, but mostly it is just a giant hanging petunia. I am guessing it is working because they're not in full sun and I used a good fertilizer several times during the summer - but had to water almost every day from July on! I like that idea of what momma used for lining her pots and may try that next year!! I also used a wave purple petunia for 2 other pots and got similar results.

I put two to three plants in mine 10 to 12 inch baskets. They looked very nice until I had to leave for my vacation and left my husband with them to water them! When I came back there were no flowers on them. I thought they were dead. I somehow brought them back to life, but they don't look very nice. I didn't pinch them so they have these long branches that grow upwards and about 1 flower on the end of each branch. I also water every day and fertilize once a week.

Its so hard leaving our plants for any time during the summer isn't it! And during the winter when I had lots of cuttings was hard too!!