This Hanging Basket Beauty Takes Care Of Itself And Thrives In Scorching Sun

Hanging baskets add beauty and life to porches, patios, and other outdoor spaces, but many can start to wilt and look a bit tired once the full heat of summer bears down on them. However, that doesn't have to be the case if you choose the right flowers to fill your basket. The beautiful and tough Million Bells (Calabrachoa x hybrida), also called trailing petunias, are an ideal option for full-sun hanging baskets that will keep flowering all summer long.

Million Bells, as well as Super Bells and most other Calabrachoa hybrids, are trademarked and patented, so these plants can't legally be propagated from cuttings at home, and seeds aren't currently available for sale. Luckily, young plants are widely available from most garden centers at a reasonable price and come in a wide variety of colors. While trailing petunias are generally grown as annuals in the United States, these South American natives can also be treated as perennials in zones 8 and 9. 

Don't let Million Bells' delicate appearance fool you — these dainty-looking flowers thrive in full sun, though they can also handle part shade. While sun and heat are no problem at all for these flowers, they do need their soil kept moist, so be sure to water them regularly, especially in the summer heat, or put them in a self-watering planter. Million Bells are happiest in loamy, fertile soil that drains well and has a pH between 5 and 6.5. 

While Million Bells don't require deadheading to bloom well since they are self cleaning, they do need regular fertilizing to keep their show going all summer. Make sure your potting mix contains slow-release fertilizer when planting your Million Bells, or add some into the growing medium yourself. Additionally, giving your plants water-soluble fertilizer twice a month should keep these heavy feeders blooming profusely all season long.

You can't go wrong with a basket full of just Million Bells, either all one color or a mix of colors, especially if you want to attract pollinators to your yard. That's far from the only way to use these flowers, though. You can also combine these stunning little blooms with other hanging basket favorites to create a unique look. When making a hanging basket, it's essential to pair flowers that thrive in similar conditions, so pentas, creeping Jenny, and dusty millers are all excellent additions to containers of Million Bells.

When building your basket, remember not to overcrowd your plants, so don't put more than three to five plants in a basket with a 12-inch diameter. It's also popular to follow some variation of the classic container garden formula of using a filler, a spiller, and a thriller plant. Million Bells are perfect for this since not only do they fill out baskets beautifully, but they also spill over the sides, living up to their name of trailing petunias.