The table calls it a tie: Petunia and Verbena share the crown at 95 and 95 of 100, a gap smaller than the data can honestly split.
Every flower here is scored by the same 6 published rules, using one open table of 85 flowers. No taste, no sponsors: tap any score and it unfolds into the lines that made it.
The picks
The flowers that won The top score, plus the qualifier that asks least of you.
95 95 CO-WINNER CO-WINNER YFG INDEX Cascade habit: spreading, mounding, trailing · Bloom window: 6 months · Takes sun or shade hooks: 2 documented
Flaws, not dealbreakers:
no flaw on record
Deer: sometimes eaten (Rutgers C) Cat safe (listed non-toxic)
95 / 100 tap for the breakdown Cascade habit 30 / 30 spreading, mounding, trailing
Bloom window 20 / 20 6 months
Takes sun or shade hooks 10 / 15 2 documented
Set-and-forget upkeep 15 / 15 low
Heat and drought grit 10 / 10 drought, poor soil
Color range for a mixed basket 10 / 10 11 documented
95 95 CO-WINNER CO-WINNER YFG INDEX Cascade habit: erect, mounding, spreading, trailing · Bloom window: 6 months · Takes sun or shade hooks: 2 documented
Flaws, not dealbreakers:
no flaw on record
Deer: seldom damaged (Rutgers B)
95 / 100 tap for the breakdown Cascade habit 30 / 30 erect, mounding, spreading, trailing
Bloom window 20 / 20 6 months
Takes sun or shade hooks 10 / 15 2 documented
Set-and-forget upkeep 15 / 15 low
Heat and drought grit 10 / 10 drought, heat
Color range for a mixed basket 10 / 10 8 documented
Also great Close behind on points. Neither beats the winner overall, but each is the better answer in a garden the winner would not suit.
89 89 ALSO GREAT ALSO GREAT YFG INDEX Cascade habit: erect, spreading, clumping · Bloom window: 5 months · Takes sun or shade hooks: 2 documented
Flaws, not dealbreakers:
no vase data in the postharvest literature
Deer: rarely damaged (Rutgers A)
89 / 100 tap for the breakdown Cascade habit 24 / 30 erect, spreading, clumping
Bloom window 20 / 20 5 months
Takes sun or shade hooks 10 / 15 2 documented
Set-and-forget upkeep 15 / 15 low
Heat and drought grit 10 / 10 drought, sandy dry soil, shallow rocky, urban
Color range for a mixed basket 10 / 10 3 documented
89 89 ALSO GREAT ALSO GREAT YFG INDEX Cascade habit: erect, clumping, mounding, spreading · Bloom window: 6 months · Takes sun or shade hooks: 2 documented
Flaws, not dealbreakers:
no vase data in the postharvest literature
Deer: rarely damaged (Rutgers A) Cat safe (listed non-toxic)
89 / 100 tap for the breakdown Cascade habit 24 / 30 erect, clumping, mounding, spreading
Bloom window 20 / 20 6 months
Takes sun or shade hooks 10 / 15 2 documented
Set-and-forget upkeep 15 / 15 low
Heat and drought grit 10 / 10 drought, heat, humidity, poor soil, sandy dry soil, shallow rocky, clay soil, salt
Color range for a mixed basket 10 / 10 4 documented
The protocol
How the score is built 6 rules, 100 points, no opinions. Every line reads one field of the table.
Cascade habit 30 points true trailing spills over the rim 30; spreading fills the basket 24; mounding rounds the top 16 Read from: habit form.
Bloom window 20 points a basket that quits in six weeks is the top complaint: 4+ months 20 Read from: the months it is in bloom.
Takes sun or shade hooks 15 points baskets hang where the hook is: flexibility across light levels 15 Read from: the light it is documented in.
Set-and-forget upkeep 15 points small soil volume already means daily water Read from: how much upkeep extension guides report.
Heat and drought grit 10 points a hanging pot bakes from all sides Read from: stress tolerances.
Color range for a mixed basket 10 points a full basket blends 2-3 colors Read from: flower color.
Not ranked here: upright or clumping habit only: will not spill over a basket rim. Scores are never sponsored
and never sold. The full method ↗
The leaderboard
The top ten The 10 highest of 38 that qualified. Tap any score to open the lines behind it.
1 95 / 100 tap for the breakdown Cascade habit 30 / 30 spreading, mounding, trailing
Bloom window 20 / 20 6 months
Takes sun or shade hooks 10 / 15 2 documented
Set-and-forget upkeep 15 / 15 low
Heat and drought grit 10 / 10 drought, poor soil
Color range for a mixed basket 10 / 10 11 documented
1 95 / 100 tap for the breakdown Cascade habit 30 / 30 erect, mounding, spreading, trailing
Bloom window 20 / 20 6 months
Takes sun or shade hooks 10 / 15 2 documented
Set-and-forget upkeep 15 / 15 low
Heat and drought grit 10 / 10 drought, heat
Color range for a mixed basket 10 / 10 8 documented
3 89 / 100 tap for the breakdown Cascade habit 24 / 30 erect, spreading, clumping
Bloom window 20 / 20 5 months
Takes sun or shade hooks 10 / 15 2 documented
Set-and-forget upkeep 15 / 15 low
Heat and drought grit 10 / 10 drought, sandy dry soil, shallow rocky, urban
Color range for a mixed basket 10 / 10 3 documented
3 89 / 100 tap for the breakdown Cascade habit 24 / 30 erect, clumping, mounding, spreading
Bloom window 20 / 20 6 months
Takes sun or shade hooks 10 / 15 2 documented
Set-and-forget upkeep 15 / 15 low
Heat and drought grit 10 / 10 drought, heat, humidity, poor soil, sandy dry soil, shallow rocky, clay soil, salt
Color range for a mixed basket 10 / 10 4 documented
3 89 / 100 tap for the breakdown Cascade habit 24 / 30 arching, clumping, spreading
Bloom window 20 / 20 5 months
Takes sun or shade hooks 10 / 15 2 documented
Set-and-forget upkeep 15 / 15 low
Heat and drought grit 10 / 10 drought, salt, heat, erosion, clay soil, poor soil, wet soil
Color range for a mixed basket 10 / 10 8 documented
3 89 / 100 tap for the breakdown Cascade habit 24 / 30 erect, mounding, spreading
Bloom window 20 / 20 5 months
Takes sun or shade hooks 10 / 15 2 documented
Set-and-forget upkeep 15 / 15 low
Heat and drought grit 10 / 10 drought
Color range for a mixed basket 10 / 10 6 documented
3 89 / 100 tap for the breakdown Cascade habit 24 / 30 erect, spreading, arching, mounding, open
Bloom window 20 / 20 6 months
Takes sun or shade hooks 10 / 15 2 documented
Set-and-forget upkeep 15 / 15 low
Heat and drought grit 10 / 10 drought, heat, salt, black walnut, clay soil, wet soil, urban, wind
Color range for a mixed basket 10 / 10 3 documented
8 88 / 100 tap for the breakdown Cascade habit 24 / 30 clumping, erect, mounding, spreading
Bloom window 20 / 20 6 months
Takes sun or shade hooks 15 / 15 3 documented
Set-and-forget upkeep 15 / 15 low
Heat and drought grit 4 / 10 heavy shade
Color range for a mixed basket 10 / 10 5 documented
9 86 / 100 tap for the breakdown Cascade habit 16 / 30 clumping, mounding
Bloom window 20 / 20 6 months
Takes sun or shade hooks 15 / 15 4 documented
Set-and-forget upkeep 15 / 15 low
Heat and drought grit 10 / 10 drought, heat, humidity, heavy shade, sandy dry soil, black walnut
Color range for a mixed basket 10 / 10 3 documented
10 84 / 100 tap for the breakdown Cascade habit 24 / 30 clumping, spreading
Bloom window 15 / 20 3 months
Takes sun or shade hooks 10 / 15 2 documented
Set-and-forget upkeep 15 / 15 low
Heat and drought grit 10 / 10 heavy shade, drought, urban, poor soil
Color range for a mixed basket 10 / 10 8 documented
Considered, not chosen Not qualifying is a verdict too: the table simply says this job is not theirs.
upright or clumping habit only Tulips, Peonies, Sunflower and 44 more
The winner's badge Generated by the ranking above, and re-scored whenever the table changes.
Petunia
The badge is generated by this ranking, not awarded by hand. When the
table changes, it re-scores itself.
95 95 BEST FOR BASKETS BEST FOR BASKETS YFG INDEX · WINNER How we rank
We keep one table of 85 flowers,
with 25 documented facts each, drawn from university and extension sources. Every ranking is
a published formula worth 100 points; tap any score and it unfolds into the lines that made
it. A flower that does not fit a job is not scored lower: it is excluded, and the reason is
named. Nothing here is sponsored, and no score can be bought. When the table changes, every
score and stamp updates itself.
The full method ↗
