Susan wrote:
:: Another question re summer hanging baskets. I always end up with
:: either too few or too many plants in a basket. I can find lots of
:: recommendations for types of plants but I can't find instructions
:: on how many to use.
::
:: So, approximately how many plants would fill a 12" or 14" basket,
:: using the usual recipe of a geranium in the middle and trailers
:: (bacopa, million bells, verbena, lobelia, etc) around the sides
:: and outside?
::
:: Does anyone have a favourite summer hanging basket recipe they
:: want to share?
::
:: Thank you.

Last year I did ten baskets,(all 14") each had a Geranium in the middle, one
lobelia, one Verbena, a Pansy and an African or French Marigold...they came
out quite impressive (for a novice like me!)...the Geraniums towered in the
centre, big balls of pale pink or white, the Marigolds competed for height
with masses of Orange or Yellow, while the Verbena and Lobelia drooped dark
blues and scarlet flowers all over everywhere...the Pansies went rather
'leggy' but still had lots of flowers on them...this year I'm putting
Fuchsias in the centres of some and not bothering with the Pansies....a word
of warning if you're new to hanging baskets - they like plenty of water! - I
used to really drench mine twice per week (a trick I learned with them is
that you need to give them all about two pints of water each, leave them for
half an hour for the compost to become damp, then give them another two
pints to soak them properly, when they are fairly dry, most of the first
watering just runs straight through!)...even during rainy spells they will
get dry very quickly as rain rarely comes straight down....I've stood in the
rain watering my bone dry hanging baskets many times!

I filled them with a mixture of soil, multi-purpose compost and home made
compost (mainly lawn cuttings) ...this mixture seemed to hold the moisture
in better, I gave each one a dose of Miracle-Gro each month from May to
September and they did really well.


HTH