12 Australian native plants for hanging pots and baskets
A hanging basket or a pot changes the terms for a plant. Roots are confined, drainage is faster and the whole thing dries out quicker than open ground, so not every Australian native is suited to the job. The plants that do well share a few traits: a naturally shallow or fibrous root system, a habit that either trails, mounds or climbs and a reasonable tolerance for more variable moisture.
A well-chosen plant makes the most of a hanging position.
The plants below cover trailing spillers, scrambling climbers, mounding flowerers and two shade-loving ferns, so there is a fit whether your basket is hanging in full sun or tucked under a shaded verandah.
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Getting the basics right
All these plants need a free-draining, low-phosphorus native potting mix. Most Australian natives evolved on some of the oldest, most nutrient-poor soils on earth, and many lack the ability ordinary garden plants have to regulate how much phosphorus they take up. A standard potting mix in a confined pot can cause genuine root damage.
Rhodanthe "Paper Girl" Everlasting (Rhodanthe anthemoides) in a hanging pot. A free-draining, low-phosphorus native mix suits almost any small native grown in a pot.
Why baskets dry out faster
A hanging basket is exposed to air on every side rather than just the top, so it loses moisture through evaporation far faster than the same plant in the ground or even in a standing pot. In summer this can mean daily watering. Line your wire basket with coir and use an olla to help retain moisture.
Trailing and spilling
These five plants do the classic hanging basket job: they spill down over the edge of the pot rather than growing upright.
A mix of fan flower colours in one basket, from white through to lilac.
1. Pale fan flower (Scaevola albida)
Pale fan flower, also sold as white fan-flower, forms a dense, low mat and spills cleanly over a basket rim within a season. Its small, five-petalled flowers range from snow white through to pale blue or lilac and appear for most of the year. It handles moderate drying out once established and tolerates full sun to light shade equally well. Frost will knock back the top growth, but it regrows readily from the base. A light trim after a heavy flowering period keeps the mat dense.
Pale fan flower (Scaevola albida) — a dense, low mat that flowers for most of the year and spills cleanly over a basket rim.
2. Kidney weed (Dichondra repens)
Kidney weed forms a curtain of small, rounded, bright green leaves that drape neatly over a pot rim, and it is also sold as a low-traffic lawn substitute. Kidney weed prefers consistent moisture and will thin out if a basket is allowed to dry hard between waters. Note: Dichondra argentea 'Silver Falls' is a similar-looking silver-leafed trailer, but originates from South America.
Kidney weed (Dichondra repens) — fine, dense trailing foliage; confirm the label if buying, since the silver-leafed form sold alongside it is not native.
3. Creeping boobialla (Myoporum parvifolium)
Creeping boobialla is one of the most drought-tolerant plants on this list, which makes it a forgiving choice for a basket in an exposed position. It produces small white star-shaped flowers through spring and summer and trails vigorously, so it suits a larger basket where it has room. Full sun and sharp drainage keep it flowering well.
Creeping boobialla (Myoporum parvifolium) — vigorous and drought-tolerant once established; give it room.
4. Pratia (Lobelia pedunculata)
Pratia sits lower and denser than fan flower or boobialla, forming a tight mat of small leaves studded with star-shaped white to pale blue flowers through spring and summer. It operates as a living mulch as much as a trailer, which makes it a good companion planted at the base of a taller centrepiece, filling the surface of the pot while still spilling gently over the rim. It needs more consistent moisture than boobialla and will not tolerate the same degree of drying out.
Pratia (Lobelia pedunculata) — a low, dense filler that doubles as a soft spiller over the rim.
5. Native violet (Viola hederacea)
Native violet is the pick for a basket hanging somewhere shadier, such as under a verandah or on a south-facing wall. It spreads by runners and produces its purple and white flowers through most of the year. It establishes fastest with consistent moisture, though once settled it handles short dry spells reasonably well.
Native violet (Viola hederacea) — the shade-tolerant option for a basket that will not get full sun.
Climbers and ramblers
All three of these plants are scramblers, which suits a basket where you want a dramatic impact with long, trailing stems.
6. Snake vine (Hibbertia scandens)
Snake vine produces large, bright yellow flowers over a long season and will scramble happily over a basket's rim if left to its own devices. In a garden bed this vigour is an asset, but in a basket it will need regular trimming back to a framework of shorter stems.
Snake vine (Hibbertia scandens) — vigorous and showy, but needs regular trimming to stay basket-shaped.
7. Running postman (Kennedia prostrata)
Running postman produces striking red pea flowers against fine, three-lobed leaflets, and its trailing habit lets it spill down over a pot's rim. Like other native peas, it fixes its own nitrogen through bacteria housed in nodules on its roots, which is part of why it copes so well in poor, sandy soils. It is genuinely drought-tolerant once its root system is established. Trim back hard each year.
Running postman (Kennedia prostrata) — striking red flowers and genuine drought tolerance, best given a larger basket.
8. Hoya (Hoya australis)
Hoya australis is the tropical inclusion on this list, native to rainforest margins along the northern NSW and Queensland coast, where it grows as an epiphyte. That origin carries through to how it should be grown in a basket: a chunky, free-draining mix, infrequent but thorough watering and protection from frost. In return it produces clusters of waxy, fragrant white flowers. In cooler climates it is best treated as a basket that comes indoors or under cover for winter.
Steve Fitzgerald, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Hoya (Hoya australis) — the tropical pick, epiphytic in origin and frost-tender, best moved under cover through winter in cooler climates.
Tip
Prune climbers and ramblers straight after their main flowering flush rather than waiting until they have overgrown the basket. Cutting back to a framework of two or three main stems each year keeps snake vine, running postman and hoya productive and basket-shaped, rather than letting them put all their energy into new growth at the expense of next season's flowers.
Mounding and structural
These two plants hold their shape rather than trailing, and work well as the visual centre of a mixed basket with spillers planted around them.
9. Cut-leaf daisy (Brachyscome multifida)
Cut-leaf daisy forms a neat, ferny mound smothered in mauve to purple daisy flowers for most of the year, and its habit holds its shape well in a pot. It is a good centrepiece for a mixed basket, with a lower spiller such as pratia or kidney weed planted around its base. A light trim after each flush of flowering encourages the next round and keeps the mound compact.
Cut-leaf daisy (Brachyscome multifida) — a long-flowering, compact mound that anchors a mixed basket.
10. Grevillea (Grevillea lanigera 'Mt Tamboritha')
Grevillea lanigera 'Mt Tamboritha' is a compact, widely available cultivar with fine grey-green foliage and pink and cream spider flowers from winter through spring. Grevillea are among the most phosphorus-sensitive Australian natives. Like many plants in the same family, they grow dense clusters of fine roots specifically adapted to scavenging phosphorus from poor soil, and those same roots take up excess phosphorus far more efficiently than an ordinary plant would, which is what makes overfeeding so damaging. A fertiliser formulated specifically for natives matters more here than almost anywhere else on this list.
Grevillea (Grevillea lanigera 'Mt Tamboritha') — compact and floriferous, but genuinely phosphorus-sensitive.
Ferns for shaded baskets
Both of these are native, epiphytic or lithophytic ferns rather than soil-dwelling plants in the wild, and that origin is exactly why they suit a hanging basket. A root system built to grip bark or rock and dry out between rain events is a closer match to a well-drained container.
11. Bird's nest fern (Asplenium australasicum)
Bird's nest fern grows naturally as an epiphyte high in rainforest trees along the eastern Australian coast, where broad, glossy fronds fan out from a central rosette to catch falling leaf litter and moisture. It wants the same chunky, free-draining mix as the other epiphytes here, consistent humidity, and protection from direct afternoon sun. It is one of the most widely available native ferns in general nursery stock. See the native epiphytes guide for more on growing plants this way.
Bird's nest fern (Asplenium australasicum) — a broad architectural rosette rather than a spiller, and the most widely available native fern in general nursery stock.
12. Kangaroo fern (Microsorum pustulatum)
Kangaroo fern takes its name from the shape of its mature fronds, which broaden toward the tip in a way that loosely resembles a kangaroo's foot. Like bird's nest fern it grows naturally as an epiphyte on rocks, logs and tree trunks, though its habit is trailing and finer. It shares the same preference for a shaded position and a free-draining, moisture-retentive mix rather than standing water. It tolerates cooler conditions better than bird's nest fern, which makes it the better pick for a shaded basket in a cool temperate climate such as Melbourne or Hobart.
Kangaroo fern (Microsorum pustulatum) — the most cold-tolerant fern here, suited to a shaded basket in a cooler climate.
Building a mixed basket
A single basket does not need to hold just one species. Pairing a mounding centrepiece with a spiller around its base gives a fuller look faster, provided the pairing shares similar light and water needs.
A mounding centrepiece such as cut-leaf daisy softens as it establishes, spilling over the rim alongside its companion spillers.
Whatever the combination, or if you choose a single plant, check the basket daily through summer to ensure it does not dry out. Hanging baskets are a useful option for small spaces, verandahs or anywhere you want to add vertical height and variety to a garden.
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A Guide to Australian Native Gardening
How to plan, plant and care for a thriving native garden, whatever your experience level.
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