Of course you can use perennial plants in hanging baskets just as you might plant them in pots. For example, you can mix perennials such as ivy with summer bedding plants such as petunia to add interesting foliage and longevity to a display which is a little dull before the petunia flower. You can also plant up a hanging basket entirely with perennials which will last from year to year. A beautiful mixed foliage and flower display can be created using low creeping plants such as the bugle with its blue flower spikes and variegated ivy which trails prettily from the basket. Dianthus (pinks) flourish in hanging baskets and this may be the only place to plant them if your garden is generally a bit wet. Perennials can grow enormously in one season so choose varieties which are the right ultimate size for a hanging basket. They will need feeding, dividing at the end or the beginning of the growing season and replanting somewhere more suitable if they outgrow their baskets.
