• Hanging a basket of bright flowers on a patio or from an outdoor structure allows you to expand your garden upward. Not all flowers are suitable for the confined quarters of a basket, but many will thrive and bloom profusely. Choosing the right flowers for the hanging basket ensures your basket plants remain healthy and bloom heavily throughout the growing season.
  
  

Creeping Zinnia

• Creeping zinnia is low growing but spreads to fill an entire basket on its own. Yellow or orange flowers resemble small daisies and bloom profusely throughout summer and fall. Creeping zinnia requires minimal maintenance to thrive. It continues to grow and thrive through the heat of the summer, making it suitable for areas that receive lots of sunlight or in the heat reflected up from paved patio areas.
  
  

Lobelia

• Lobelia is available in a range of blossom colors, including blue, pink, red and orange. Lobelia blooms best in the cooler periods of spring and fall. During summer heat, provide afternoon shade to protect the blossoms and the plant from wilt. Annual lobelia reaches heights of 3 to 5 inches, while perennial lobelia may reach up to 2 feet in height.
  
  

Pansy

• Pansies are prized in beds and borders but also thrive in hanging baskets. Available in a large range of colors, the pansy is a cool-weather flower. In areas with mild winters, pansies add color to flower baskets from fall until spring. In colder climates pansies grow best in spring and fall but can be over-summered if provided plenty of water and some afternoon shade.
  
  

Petunia

• There is a petunia variety for nearly any color of planting desired. Petunias bloom all summer long in hanging baskets, starting in spring and continuing until the first fall frost. They require some maintenance to remain attractive and to remain at the height of bloom. Removing the spent flowers regularly encourages further blooming and also prevents petal drop that may litter patios and walkways under the basket.
  
  

Tuberous Begonia

• A perennial, tuberous begonia doesn't require planting each year like many other hanging basket flowers. The plant produces large blossoms in shades ranging from white and pink to red and orange. It is especially suited to hanging baskets because while it isn't winter hardy, baskets are easy to relocate to a frost-free location in the winter. Begonia flowers from mid-spring until late autumn and is especially striking when two or more color varieties are added to a single basket planting.