The blooming season may have passed its zenith, but fall hanging baskets are all about rich tones, contrasting textures, and long-lasting durability.
Elevate the Fall Celebrations
All the advantages of growing hanging baskets through spring and summer are virtually doubled in stunning fall hanging baskets.
The gardens have been put to bed but the embellishments and architectural structure that hanging baskets provide can continue through fall. Some may even last through winter in warm places.
A stunning fall hanging basket will be thoroughly enjoyed when planning and planting your favorite spring-blooming bulbs that are planted in fall as well as planting the best perennials to plant in fall.
Fall blooming perennials can inspire a theme or color choices for incredible coordinated fall hanging baskets as well.
Bringing The Outdoors In
The landscape and gardens may be frosted over or tormented by icy winds and cold temperatures, but a hanging basket can hang out inside until the skies clear.
Less Care in an Unhurried Season
The cooler temperatures of fall inspire easier care for hanging baskets as plants grow more slowly, need less water, and fewer nutrients.
Re-invent, Recharge, or Reuse Hanging Baskets
Because of less growth and fewer needs, a fall hanging basket can hold all new fall-inspired plants by planting them into a pre-existing hanging basket. Just top up the potting soil.
A few plants in an existing hanging basket might still look great. You can remove previously admired summer beauties that are past their prime. Pop in a few fall favorites to keep a stunning fall hanging basket.
Of course, all-new hanging baskets with fresh potting soil are a great start for an inspirational fall showpiece.
10 Best Plants for a Stunning Fall Hanging Basket
1. Ornamental Sedge (Carex)
Contrasting colors or striking variegated leaves, ornamental sedges are cool-season grass-like plants that create wonderful texture with their arching study narrow leaves.
Hardy in zones 5 to 10, many Carex varieties stay small, 10 to 12 inches, making them perfect for hanging baskets.
Carex are sturdy plants that hold up in inclement weather and look fantastic draped in frost or even with a dusting of snow.
2. Coral Bells (Heuchera)
A well-loved garden favorite, coral bells are a spectacular, almost evergreen, foliage plant. Carex has a mounding habit for a soft, full form to fill out a fall hanging basket.
A perennial hardy in zones 4 to 8, coral bells’ deeply lobed and deeply veined leaves are available in uplifting chartreuse through to deep burgundy to almost black in rich solids or impressive variegated and contrasting colors.
Coral bells create substantial visual impact with their durable fall-loving cozy fullness.
3. Heaths and Heathers (Calluna or Erica)
An exceptionally tough plant for hanging baskets the scale- or needle-like leaves form texturally interesting mats.
Hardy in zones 3 to 10, depending on the variety, heathers draw attention with late-season flowering spikes smothered in white, pink, and purple flowers.
This robust plant hails from frosty bogs and rugged mountains of Europe where it prefers damp, slightly acidic growing conditions.
4. Mums (Chrysanthemums)
To bring the most glory to the fall season, the warm shades of autumn burst in the abundant blooms of mums in orange, yellow, bronze, and red.
A compliment to any fall or harvest celebration, mums bring it all home, stopping the show solo or in an ensemble in hanging baskets.
Trailing varieties of mums are called Skyfall which naturally cascade out of hanging planters.
To make the most of your mums in hanging baskets, check out Deadheading Mums + More Tips to Make Chrysanthemums Last Longer.
5. Snapdragon (Antirrhinum)
Perhaps a cold-weather holdout, this stunning annual continues to deliver exciting color. Snapdragons come in all shades, many complementary to the rich harvest colors of autumn.
In hanging baskets, snapdragons are on the tall side. When pinched earlier in the summer they will be bushier with abundant unique blooms.
Pop some snapdragons into a hanging basket that may need a late-season rescue with other annuals that take a chill with grace, such as petunias and bacopa.
6. Verbena (Verbena)
Frosty cool temperatures augment the delicious spicy citrus aroma of the beautiful, trailing verbena plants that continue to bloom even at 15° F.
Growing in zones 5 to 11, verbena range in colors from whites, dark purples, deep pinks, blues, and robust reds.
Spilling and filling, verbena have a long bloom season, and their trailing habit compliments a stunning fall hanging basket while enchanting the chilled air with an enticing aroma.
7. Ornamental Cabbage and Kale (Brassica oleracea)
With foliage so pretty it looks like its blooming, ornamental cabbage and kale steal the show with their contrasting reds, purples, pinks, greens, creams, and whites.
The strapping tough leaves glide through fall delivering deeper colors as the temperature drops, even below 5° F.
From frilly flamboyant foliage to sturdy striking spiky leaves. The uses for ornamental cabbages and kales in a fall hanging basket are unusual and eye-catching.
8. Pansies (Viola)
A sure-fire mood lifter in the contemplative autumn, pansies’ rich vibrant colors, and bold design bring a smile to any dreary day.
Exceptionally perfect for fall hanging baskets, pansies prefer moist rich soil in zones 6 to 9 and thrive in cool weather.
Pansies play well with others, bringing out the best of ornamental grasses, cabbage, kale, and foliage plants. They have a ton of varieties, colors, and sizes to choose from.
9. Million Bells (Calibrachoa)
This easy plant breezes through summer overflowing with abundant single or double mini-petunia-like blooms well into fall.
The spectrum of colors is vast for the well-named million bells, hardy in zones 9 to 11. Available in many autumn-inspired shades of bronze, orange, magenta, and purple.
Overflowing, mounding, and spilling, Calibrachoa is incredibly showy stuffed in fall hanging baskets.
10. Ivy (Hedera helix)
Gorgeous any time of year, but Ivy works its magic weaving summer into fall and holds its own carrying any fall-inspired hanging basket right into winter.
Thick, glossy leaves are solid or variegated and may be oval, arrowhead, palmate, to maple-like depending on the cultivar, with many Ivy varieties hardy in zones 4 to 9.
So useful, Ivy not only cascades but this sturdy vine can also be trained upward as well. Making it perfect for fall hanging baskets that are welcome indoors in poor weather.
Final Takeaway
Stunning fall hanging baskets help to elevate fall celebrations with long-lasting durability and gorgeous rich tones and textures to embellish the best this season has to offer.
