Trailing annual flowers are a great way to spice up your garden. These flowers are used for gardens, hanging baskets, flower beds, and can even be planted in pots. With trailing annuals you will have a vertical garden that hangs onto fences, railings, or any other surface that happens to be below your planter.
If you’re into pairing different plants, they look great as a set when combined with tall, spiky plants and mounding plants.
Here are some of the best looking trailing annual flowers.
Petunia
Petunias are one of the most popular trailing annual flowers. Petunias have dark green leaves and beautiful, trumpet shaped flowers. They are perfect for a hanging basket, a pot, or just taking advantage of their trailing habit to crowd out weeds.
The petunia is also one of the easiest plants to grow and they do not require much maintenance. You can start them from seedlings or you can buy them as a live plant at your local garden store.
Wave petunias are my favorite varieties of petunia, personally. They have so many different kinds to cater to whatever need you have in your garden.
Lobelia
Lobelia is a great trailing annual flower that has a lovely blue hue to it. It grows well in moist, rich soil and blooms best when planted in full sunlight.
If you plant lobelia in the right site, it will grow approximately four feet tall. The flowers are deep blue and can be used as an excellent contrast with other pinks or purples. It does well in containers and hanging baskets too!
Tapien Verbena
Tapien Verbena is a trailing annual that’s great for hanging baskets, containers, or garden beds. It has beautiful red, pink, white, blue, or purple flowers and a strong citrus scent.
It will grow 3-7″ tall and 2-5′ wide and needs full sunlight in order to thrive. The Tapien Verbena is not picky about the soil type, prefers evenly moist soil, and can handle all types of climates.
Black-Eyed Susan Vine
One of the most popular trailing annuals is the Black-Eyed Susan Vine. It’s a vine that grows up to 8 feet long in most areas and produces bright yellow flowers with black or orange centers, depending on the variety.
This vine can be grown in containers, or you can plant it in your garden or flowerbed. If you’re using it as a trailing plant in a container, however, you may want to keep it properly pruned.
Moonflower
This stunning vine can also act as a trailing annual flower is a must-have for any garden. Moonflowers are the perfect flower to have in a hanging basket or container. Or, if you like, you can let them ramble across your flower bed and grow up whatever they find.
The flowers bloom in the evening – hence the name – and look beautiful as they hang down.
Nemesia
This little trailing annual is a perfect example of ease and charm. Nemesia is a perennial in warmer climates. It will grow thicker, fuller, and taller with each season. In colder climates it can be grown as an annual or potted up to bring indoors during the winter months.
Nemesia has a thin, trailing stem with small, delicate leaves with small clusters of tiny white or pastel flowers at the tips. The flowers are usually bell shaped and come in shades like pink, red, purple, lavender, and white/pink combinations.
Santa Barbara Daisy
This is a perennial, winter-hardy plant that can grow up to 1-2’ tall with a spread of about 3-5’. Their blooms are large and range from white to pink. This is a low maintenance plant that needs little water and prefers full sun conditions.
Grown in a pot, hanging basket, or a window planter, this beautiful plant will trail over the sides and spill blooms down.
Dichondra Silver Falls
Dichondra Silver Falls is a trailing annual that has a silver-gray foliage. In the summer, it produces small flowers. They flowers aren’t really that noticable, however, and the main attraction is definitely the foliage. The flowers make great cuttings for arrangements and the foliage adds color to your garden year round.
This plant gets 2-6″ tall and 3-4′ wide and it should be planted in full sun to partial shade.
This plant is perfect for gardens, hanging baskets, flower beds, and even pots. It requires well-draining soil and a dry environment. If you have heavy clay soil, add sand or gravel before planting.
Calibrachoa
The Calibrachoa is a beautiful flower that comes in colors like white, pink, red, and purple. The flowers are perfect for adding to hanging baskets or planting in containers. They have an extended bloom time and can grow up to 12 inches tall.
Calibrachoa is also known as ‘Million Bells’ because of its prodigious amount of flowers that it produces. It’s also called mini-petunia because its flowers look like smaller petunia flowers. Overall, it’s one of the first plants I’d reach for (second to real petunias) if I needed a trailing plant.
Begonia
Begonia is a trailing annual flower with lush green leaves and brightly colored flowers which will bloom all season long (from summer until first frost). There are over 1500 different varieties of begonias, so there’s bound to be one for you!
Creeping Thyme
Creeping thyme is a low-growing flowering plant that is perfect for trailing gardens.
It can be used in a variety of ways, but it’s most commonly found as an ingredient in cooking.
Creeping thyme has an earthy fragrance and a strong flavor that is slightly peppery. It also has many health benefits, such as reducing bad cholesterol levels and lowering blood sugar levels. It is easy to grow and tolerates drought conditions, which makes it an ideal annual flower for those living in dry regions of the country.
The down-side is that it’s a bit harder to harvest than regular thyme because of fragile stems that break when trying to pull the leaves off.
Fuchsia
Fuchsia is a trailing annual flower that blooms in the summer. The flowers are typically pink and will grow 1-3′ tall, depending on variety. Fuchsia can be grown in containers or hanging baskets and will do well with some morning sun and protection from the more brutal afternoon sun.
Pansy
Pansies are a flowering perennial that is often used in borders. Pansies are known for their memorable flowers which have patterns in them that look like faces, which come in a variety of colors and shades.
Pansy flowers typically bloom during spring and summer in most areas, which makes them great for adding some color to your spring garden!
Ground Morning Glory
The ground morning glory is a hardy trailing annual that produces small flowers. This flower grows quickly, so you’ll have plenty of time to enjoy this trailing annual.
Ground morning glories are easy to grow and will flower between spring and fall, providing long lasting color for your garden.
Sweet Alyssum
Sweet alyssum are small, fragrant flowers that grow in clusters and work well as filler flowers. This trailing annual has an airy appearance that looks great when planted with other tall plants, such as hollyhock or salvia.
Creeping Rosemary
Creeping rosemary is an herb that grows low to the ground. It’s green with white or pink flowers and has a pleasant, pine-like scent. You can use creeping rosemary in salads, sauces, or as a cooking herb.
Rat Tail Cactus
Rat tail cacti are an excellent choice for a trailing perennial flower. These cacti have very long, thin stems that hang over the edge of a pot or planter. They can be a great choice for pots if you don’t mind getting poked a bit. Rat tail cacti are grown for their large flowers and are used in many different types of arrangements.
Flying Goldfish Plant
The Flying Goldfish Plant is a perennial plant that is native to North America. The plant is known for its unique looking flowers that give it its name and typically blooms in red, orange, and yellow.
Orchid Cactus
The Orchid Cactus is a trailing, flowering cactus that is used in gardens in tropical areas of the world. They are a popular type of cactus that come in a lot of different colors and looks – including the queen of the night variety with beautiful white flowers.
If you’re looking for a species of flowering cactus to use as a trailing plant in a hanging basket, the orchid cactus is worth taking a look at.
Nasturtium
Nasturtiums are a beautiful flower that come in many different colors. They have a spicy, peppery taste and are often used as an edible flower.
Nasturtiums trail out from the stem and can grow up to 1′ high and 3′ wide/long. These trailing flowers make great additions to any garden for their bright colors and interesting foliage. Nasturtiums need at least six hours of sunlight per day.
Creeping Snapdragon
Creeping snapdragon is a delicate, trailing annual flower with beautiful flowers that come in pink, purple, yellow, white, red, and a range of other colors. Snapdragon is a classic flower that’s popular for cottage-style gardens and are a must have.
Creeping snapdragons are great for full sun in most areas or partial sun in warmer areas with a lot of afternoon heat. This can be planted in the garden or as a container plant on your patio.
