Quick Tip: Need a Spot of Color? Repot a Hanging Basket

It was 35 years ago. I was in a garden center needing to pick up some plants to fill a couple of important pots to use near our front door.

There beside me were matching hanging baskets of wax begonias – the prettiest plants I’d ever seen. I paused for a moment and the lightbulb turned on. I could buy those two baskets for less total money than I could buy several smaller plants and pot them up into my large pots.

But the greatest part of it all was that they would look great the moment I repotted them – no waiting for them to mature. They were already there.

So, I remembered my old trick when I saw baskets of petunias in a garden center a week ago.

Since petunias like cool weather and since they play out in the heat, you really need to get them going soon. (South Texas readers might want to file this away and try them in late fall for over the winter.)

Choose a large, tasteful container that won’t draw attention away from your plants. Choose a potting soil that’s lightweight and high in organic matter, and you might as well buy a water-soluble fertilizer that you can apply with each irrigation.

Petunias will bloom well until daytime highs run up into the 90s on a regular basis. Starting with a large hanging basket gives you a great head start on enjoying their color.

Put the pots out in full sun and prepare to be pleased.