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14 Cascading Plants for the Garden

By: Danny Flanders

Whether you call them spillers, trailers or cascaders, these plants make great additions to a potted garden or hanging basket for softening edges of the container and helping to blend it into the landscape.

Weigela Florida With Creeping Golden Jenny

Photo: ProvenWinners.com

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Creeping Jenny

It may look delicate, but this tough perennial makes not only a great ground cover but also an elegant trailer, with its bright chartreuse color.

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Plectranthus Ciliatus

Plectranthus ciliatus is a great evergreen perennial ground cover with a draping effect.

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Sweet Potato Vine

Talk about workhorses! Ipomoea 'Marguerite' goes nonstop all summer until the first frost, offering bold chartreuse foliage. There are several other varieties of potato vine, from bronze and black to variegated colors.

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English Ivy

What may be a pain in the yard to control is a dependable addition to containers for a year-round spiller. English ivy can even be trained to grow in garlands.

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Purple Heart

This tough succulent adapts to a variety of conditions, including the tight confines of a basket. In late summer, 'Purple Heart' blooms with tiny pink flowers.

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Scaevola

Also called fan flower, this annual is a prolific bloomer in colors such as bluish-purple, pink and white.

Photo: Image courtesy of Suntory Collection

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'Summer Wave Bouquet' Torenia

This wishbone flower, Torenia, is a perennial favorite with small blooms of purple, pink, white and combinations of those colors.

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Mandevilla

Most consider this tropical a vine suitable only for trellises, but this trailer also makes a great addition to hanging baskets.

Photo: Courtesy of Easy To Grow Bulbs

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Passion Flower

Passiflora already is a favorite vine; add it to a container garden for a tropical accent and unique blooms that are sure to be a conversation piece.

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Petunias

An old standby, petunias are prized for their lush growth habit -- not to mention their wide array of bloom colors.

Photo: Image courtesy of Lynn Coulter

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Dianthus

Old-fashioned dianthus, also known as pinks, bloom in a wide variety of colors, from bright red and hot pink to pale lavender and brilliant white. This perennial also makes a great ground cover.