Best flowers for hanging baskets and window boxes

The table calls it a tie: Petunia and Verbena share the crown at 92 and 92 of 100, a gap smaller than the data can honestly split.

A basket flower has one extra job no bed flower shares: it must pour over a rim and survive drying out faster than any garden bed. Admission requires a trailing, spreading or mounding habit on record; shrubs and stiff uprights are out, and the ranking pays for cascade, bloom at eye level and heat grit.

The picks

The flowers that won

The top score, plus the qualifier that asks least of you.

Petunia ↗

Cascade habit: spreading, mounding, trailing · Bloom you see at eye level: 6 months · Survives the daily basket dry-out: a only: drought, poor soil

Flaws, not dealbreakers: no flaw on record

Deer: sometimes eaten (Rutgers C) Cat safe (listed non-toxic)

92/ 100tap for the breakdown

Cascade habit35 / 35spreading, mounding, trailing

Bloom you see at eye level26 / 306 months

Survives the daily basket dry-out11 / 15a only: drought, poor soil

Care while it grows20 / 20low

Verbena ↗

Cascade habit: erect, mounding, spreading, trailing · Bloom you see at eye level: 6 months · Survives the daily basket dry-out: both: drought, heat

Flaws, not dealbreakers: no flaw on record

Deer: seldom damaged (Rutgers B)

92/ 100tap for the breakdown

Cascade habit35 / 35erect, mounding, spreading, trailing

Bloom you see at eye level26 / 306 months

Survives the daily basket dry-out15 / 15both: drought, heat

Care while it grows16 / 20low, medium (mean of range)

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.

Daylily ↗

Cascade habit: arching, clumping, spreading · Bloom you see at eye level: 5 months · Survives the daily basket dry-out: both: clay soil, drought, erosion, heat, poor soil, salt, wet soil

Flaws, not dealbreakers: toxic to cats

Deer: sometimes eaten (Rutgers C) Not for cat households

84/ 100tap for the breakdown

Cascade habit26 / 35arching, clumping, spreading

Bloom you see at eye level23 / 305 months

Survives the daily basket dry-out15 / 15both: clay soil, drought, erosion, heat, poor soil, salt, wet soil

Care while it grows20 / 20low

Coreopsis ↗

Cascade habit: erect, clumping, mounding, spreading · Bloom you see at eye level: 6 months · Survives the daily basket dry-out: both: clay soil, drought, heat, humidity, poor soil, salt, sandy dry soil, shallow rocky

Flaws, not dealbreakers: no vase data in the postharvest literature

Deer: rarely damaged (Rutgers A) Cat safe (listed non-toxic)

83/ 100tap for the breakdown

Cascade habit26 / 35erect, clumping, mounding, spreading

Bloom you see at eye level26 / 306 months

Survives the daily basket dry-out15 / 15both: clay soil, drought, heat, humidity, poor soil, salt, sandy dry soil, shallow rocky

Care while it grows16 / 20low, medium (mean of range)

The protocol

How the score is built

4 rules, 100 points, no opinions. Every line reads one field of the table.

Cascade habit35 pointstrue trailing habit 35; spreading 26; mounding 16 Read from: habit form.

Bloom you see at eye level30 pointseight or more months 30; six to seven 26; four to five 23; three 15; two 8; one 3; no bloom data 8 Read from: the months it is in bloom.

Survives the daily basket dry-out15 pointsdocumented for both drought and heat 15; drought only 11; heat only 7; neither 3; no data 6 Read from: stress tolerances.

Care while it grows20 pointslow upkeep 20; middling 11; demanding 3; sources disagree, we average the range; no rating 9 Read from: how much upkeep extension guides report.

Not ranked here: upright habit: nothing to spill over a basket rim; a woody shrub cannot live in a hanging basket. The full method ↗

The leaderboard

The top ten

The 10 highest of 30 that qualified. Tap any score to open the lines behind it.

Petunia ↗

92/ 100tap for the breakdown

Cascade habit35 / 35spreading, mounding, trailing

Bloom you see at eye level26 / 306 months

Survives the daily basket dry-out11 / 15a only: drought, poor soil

Care while it grows20 / 20low

Verbena ↗

92/ 100tap for the breakdown

Cascade habit35 / 35erect, mounding, spreading, trailing

Bloom you see at eye level26 / 306 months

Survives the daily basket dry-out15 / 15both: drought, heat

Care while it grows16 / 20low, medium (mean of range)

Daylily ↗

84/ 100tap for the breakdown

Cascade habit26 / 35arching, clumping, spreading

Bloom you see at eye level23 / 305 months

Survives the daily basket dry-out15 / 15both: clay soil, drought, erosion, heat, poor soil, salt, wet soil

Care while it grows20 / 20low

Coreopsis ↗

83/ 100tap for the breakdown

Cascade habit26 / 35erect, clumping, mounding, spreading

Bloom you see at eye level26 / 306 months

Survives the daily basket dry-out15 / 15both: clay soil, drought, heat, humidity, poor soil, salt, sandy dry soil, shallow rocky

Care while it grows16 / 20low, medium (mean of range)

Catmint ↗

80/ 100tap for the breakdown

Cascade habit26 / 35erect, spreading, clumping

Bloom you see at eye level23 / 305 months

Survives the daily basket dry-out11 / 15a only: drought, sandy dry soil, shallow rocky, urban

Care while it grows20 / 20low

Begonia ↗

77/ 100tap for the breakdown

Cascade habit16 / 35clumping, mounding

Bloom you see at eye level26 / 306 months

Survives the daily basket dry-out15 / 15both: black walnut, drought, heat, heavy shade, humidity, sandy dry soil

Care while it grows20 / 20low

Blue Salvia ↗

77/ 100tap for the breakdown

Cascade habit16 / 35clumping, erect, mounding

Bloom you see at eye level26 / 306 months

Survives the daily basket dry-out15 / 15both: clay soil, drought, heat, sandy dry soil

Care while it grows20 / 20low

Geranium ↗

76/ 100tap for the breakdown

Cascade habit26 / 35erect, mounding, spreading

Bloom you see at eye level23 / 305 months

Survives the daily basket dry-out11 / 15a only: drought

Care while it grows16 / 20low, medium (mean of range)

Morning Glories ↗

76/ 100tap for the breakdown

Cascade habit26 / 35climbing, spreading

Bloom you see at eye level23 / 305 months

Survives the daily basket dry-out15 / 15both: drought, heat, poor soil, urban

Care while it grows12 / 20low, high (mean of range)

Canna Lily ↗

75/ 100tap for the breakdown

Cascade habit26 / 35clumping, erect, spreading

Bloom you see at eye level23 / 304 months

Survives the daily basket dry-out15 / 15both: drought, heat, humidity, poor soil, salt, wet soil

Care while it grows11 / 20medium

Considered, not chosen

Not qualifying is a verdict too: the table simply says this question is not theirs.

upright habit: nothing to spill over a basket rimTulips, Peonies, Sunflower and 44 more

a woody shrub cannot live in a hanging basketRoses, Hydrangea macrophylla, Lavender and 5 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.

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 the question is not scored lower: it is excluded, and the reason is shown. When the table changes, every score and stamp updates itself. The full method ↗

All nominations The table behind the scores

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