11 Vegetables That Look Great in Hanging Baskets
Growing vegetables in hanging baskets not only expands the bounty, but it also adds vertical interest, ornamenting the view with the surprise of multitasking selections. Join gardener Katherine Rowe in exploring top-performing crops for hanging baskets to broaden the harvest and the display.
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There are good reasons to grow crops vertically, and expanding our growing space is a big one. Vegetables that grow in hanging baskets tap the resources of verticality and dimension. They free up ground space while adding to the harvest. Like growing vegetables in pots and containers, taking them to the literal next level is versatile across garden scales, from small spaces to embellishing the in-ground collection.
A highlight of growing vegetables in hanging baskets is their appearance. They bring an unexpected twist to traditional suspended planters, both beautiful and valuable. Watching the fruits develop before our eyes and enjoying their easy harvest is a reward. To create a well-rounded basket, add herbs and blooms (edible flowers like nasturtiums, calendula, snapdragons, violas, French marigolds, and begonias are particularly fitting). These are useful in the kitchen and also attractive to pollinators, who will pollinate the crops.
With the exception of leafy greens, the bulk of our selection will enjoy a large planter. Aim for five gallons or larger, like a coco-lined wire frame, to ensure room for roots and good drainage. Clip holes in thin liners to tuck in additional plants to spill and trail. Plan to water the hanging basket crops regularly, as they dry out more quickly than in-ground plantings, especially in the summer.
Observe sun exposure in your hanging spot, opting for those that tolerate partial shade (many do) if under eaves or tree canopy. Mostly, enjoy the easy picking from your creative arrangement that enriches the display and the plate.
Gourmet Baby Greens Mesclun Lettuce
Gourmet Baby Greens Mesclun Lettuce Seeds
Cherry Tomato
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botanical name Solanum lycopersicum |
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sun requirements Full sun |
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height 2-3’ |
Cherry tomatoes are our top pick for vegetables that look great in hanging baskets. With ornament and flavor in a bite-sized package, they’re an ideal fit. Among tomato types, the cherries are small fruits that mature quickly in plentiful clusters. Compact, determinate varieties make the best hanging basket specimens, with short stems that cascade without staking or caging.
‘Tumbling Tom’ and ‘Cherry Falls’ are two top-performing, tidy tomato varieties for hanging baskets. While ‘Tumbling Tom’ has dwarf stems that “weep” and bear loads of bright red one- to two-inch fruits, ‘Tumbling Tom Yellow’ adds a twist with golden rounds. ‘Cherry Falls’ cascades with clusters of cherry-red fruits on sturdy 18-inch stems. They appear early in the season for quick gratification.
‘Tiny Tim’ and ‘Patio Choice Yellow’ are also tops for planters. Their diminutive stature adapts to baskets to enjoy the showy, tasty yields. Growing tomatoes in hanging baskets is relatively carefree with a few key cultural requirements. They grow best in consistently moist, organically rich, and well-draining soils.
Lettuce
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botanical name Lactuca sativa |
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sun requirements Full sun to partial shade |
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height 6-12” |
For an easy, attractive filler that won’t compete with other specimens, opt for a ready supply of leafy greens. Lettuce is a fast-growing crop that thrives in planters, and its rich hues and textural leaves are showy.
A mesclun blend is an easy way to grow complementary lettuces with diverse flavors and textures. Mesclun blends offer a combination of young lettuces, including ‘Black Seeded Simpson,’ ‘Buttercrunch,’ and ‘Red Oak Leaf,’ among others. They spring up quickly for a blend of soft and curled textures with buttery and crisp flavors.
Harvest new leaves at four to six inches tall for tender, flavorful qualities. Sow multiple rounds of seeds for a continual supply, and provide plenty of moisture, well-draining soil, and protection from hot afternoon sun.
Cucumber
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botanical name Cucumis sativus |
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sun requirements Full sun |
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height 3-6’ vines |
Compact cucumber varieties grow in suspended planters without sprawling vines that require additional staking or support. Shorter stems and internodes save space without compromising sizeable yields. Look for dwarf, bush, or “patio” varieties of these vegetables to grow in hanging baskets.
‘Spacemaster 80’ has two to three-foot vines and produces full-sized slicing cucumbers. You can also harvest them small for pickling. ‘Quick Snack’ produces smaller fruits and fits smaller pots, bred to grow in six to eight-inch pots.
‘Quick Snack’ develops quickly and is ready in less than 45 days. Blossoms don’t need pollinating, and indoors, fruits are seedless. The tasty, small fruits are best when young, about two inches long and one inch wide.
Eggplant
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botanical name Solanum melongena |
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sun requirements Full sun |
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height 2-6’ vines |
Eggplants bring gorgeous color and smooth, shiny skins that look great in hanging baskets. The best success comes with dwarf varieties that yield smaller fruits on a tidy habit.
‘Jewel Amethyst’ is a little gem that mixes up the traditional nightshades we’re used to. Small plants produce loads of petite fruits for picking at three to four inches long and two inches wide. The more you harvest ‘Jewel Amethyst,’ the more blooms and fruits it bears until fall.
‘Little Fingers’ is a delicious Asian eggplant with clusters of small, two to five-inch fruits. Creamy and silky, Asian varieties are versatile in the kitchen and easy to incorporate into summer meals. Plants reach only 30 inches tall for easy container growing.
Swiss Chard
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botanical name Beta vulgaris var. cicla |
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sun requirements Full sun |
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height 1-3’ |
Like lettuce, Swiss chard brings color and full, ruffled leaves to suspended arrangements. It’s a lush filler with tender, textural foliage and bright stems. Fresh or cooked, its mild flavor is easy to incorporate from garden to table.
Bridging the ornamental and the edible display, look for varieties like ‘Bright Lights,’ ‘Orange Fantasia,’ and ‘Peppermint’ to feature brightly colored stems against deep green or purple leaves. ‘Celebration’ brings bold, multicolored stems and tender green leaves in rich tones.
Swiss chard is lovely in combination with our favorite annuals like violas, snapdragons, and petunias. Sow seeds frequently for a continual supply of young, leafy greens.
Snap Peas
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botanical name Pisum sativum |
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sun requirements Full sun |
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height 2-7’ |
Snap peas add vertical interest and a fresh, sweet flavor right off the stem. Snap them from the basket for snacking or use them in salads, stir-fries, or steamed dishes.
‘Sugar Daddy’ is a compact grower that reaches only two to three feet high. Ideal for small spaces, the vegetable grows well in a container like a hanging basket. The sweet pods are stringless on short vines with improved disease resistance. The slender, deep green, three-inch pods are ready in about 60 days.
Sugar snap peas grow best in temperatures below 85°F (29°C). Sow them before spring and fall frosts for a cool-weather harvest.
Cucamelon
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botanical name Melothria scabra ‘Mouse Melon’ |
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sun requirements Full sun |
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height 5-10’ vines |
Cucamelons bring a fun and novel surprise as little “watermelons” the size of grapes. ‘Mouse Melon’ is a cucurbit with mottled green skins, and while they look like watermelons, they have a tart cucumber flavor. Cucamelons are highly productive vines that fruit continually from summer into fall.
The petite rounds become more sour as they ripen (they’re also called Mexican sour gherkins). Enjoy them fresh off the stem or pickled, perfect as a beverage garnish. In hanging baskets, let long vines dangle and sprawl or prune and pinch as needed to retain their form.
Zucchini
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botanical name Cucurbita pepo |
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sun requirements Full sun |
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height 2’ |
To grow zucchini in hanging baskets, opt for bushing varieties. Look for “dwarf,” “bush,” or “patio” types. Bushy varieties of the popular summer squashes don’t vine or take up much growing space.
‘Black Beauty’ is a favorite 1920s heirloom summer squash. It has a bushy habit and a high yield of dark greenish-black fruits with tender, creamy white flesh. ‘Black Beauty’ is an All-America Selections award winner for its prolific early and flavorful fruits on an easy-to-grow specimen.
‘Bush Baby’ is another compact variety with smaller fruits to harvest at two to six inches long. Squash thrives in warm temperatures in consistently moist, well-drained soil. To prevent diseases, avoid overhead watering on leaves and flowers.
Bush Beans
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botanical name Phaseolus vulgaris |
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sun requirements Full sun |
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height 2-3’ |
Bush beans have that contained form we need in a suspended planter. While their pole bean cousins are beautiful in a pot, too, their longer vines are more suited to trellising. Beans produce showy pods that add ornamental interest as they develop, from rich purples to greens. And, harvesting the pods regularly keeps them producing more.
French green beans like ‘Maxibel Filet’ are long, slender, and tender. The full-length lean beans are stringless and grow six to eight inches. ‘Contender’ is another favorite stringless that tolerates heat and resists diseases like powdery mildew.
Many bush beans thrive in mild conditions with summer temperatures below 90°F (32°C), but there are heat-tolerant varieties as well. In mild conditions, successive plantings every week or two continue the harvest. Cool-season sowing is best for hot climates.
Peppers
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botanical name Capsicum annuum |
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sun requirements Full sun |
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height 2-3’ |
Peppers spice up any composition in the display and, of course, in cuisine. There are even ornamental peppers grown for their showy fruits. Their vibrant colors and shapely peppers on dense forms make them ideal vegetables to grow in hanging baskets. While they won’t trail like some others on our list, they make a striking, upright, leafy specimen or filler addition.
In a sizeable basket, pair peppers with herbs, lettuces, blooms, and even beans for companion plantings. ‘Thai Hot Chile’ produces hot and colorful green and red narrow fruits that grow upward. The small selection reaches only eight inches tall with a mounding habit.
‘Candycane Chocolate Cherry’ sweet peppers bring a big show with variegated leaves and unique fruits. Peppers ripen from green and white striped to mahogany and red with white stripes. Small peppers are one and a half inches with crisp, sweet qualities for fresh eating or cooking.
Stawberries
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botanical name Fragaria x ananassa |
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sun requirements Full sun |
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height 6-12” |
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hardiness zones 5-9 |
Everbearing strawberries bring a burst of sweetness to hanging baskets. The berries emerge in a heavy flush in spring and about every six weeks until fall’s frost. The neat habit allows them to thrive in pots while we enjoy seeing (and picking) the suspended berries. Look for ‘Albion’ or ‘Seascape’ for compact selections.
Plant strawberry crowns in the spring in northern climates where they enjoy cool, mild temperatures. In climates with hot summers, plant them in the fall to enjoy in the cool months. You can also grow them from seed. ‘Red and Yellow Wonder Blend’ alpine strawberries produce small, highly aromatic fruits. Start them indoors before the final frost for first-year berries.
For a tropical flair and an adorable berry, consider pineberries. This hybrid between red and white varieties has white fruits dotted with pinky-red seeds. They take on a pink blush in the sun. Like other strawberries, pineberries thrive in hanging baskets, vertical towers, and pots.
