I'm trying a coconut liner hanging basket this year. Besides the normal issues with containers, with this coco liner, I noticed the water drains out very fast, contrary to what I had thought about the liner. Another problem that others have said is that, what water does remain in the soil, gets wicked by the liner itself, so that the soil gets drier than usual. You could try some purslane or moss rose or a kind of sedum that has some bit of trailing, such as sedum autumn joy. You can also have more traditional plants in hanging baskets, but just know that you'll need to water in more regularly with this liner basket. The direction of sun exposure also can play a factor, and morning sun would be quite different from afternoon or evening sun.

I've planted wire baskets like that for several seasons now, imitating the gorgeous ones sold at Roger's Gardens in Newport Beach, CA. I just love the look of a huge ball of beautiful flowers and foliage with no visible container. I put the plants' root balls in between the wires of my basket, and stuff soaked sphagnum moss into spaces between wires between the plants. I like the look of the sphagnum while I don't care for the coir. My husband also wired a couple of pieces of twisted driftwood to the wires. I did not use anything else to line the wire basket. I poured in a bit of Roger's potting mix if there was space for it. One year, I thought I might save myself some watering by using those jelly-like moisture-retaining granules. They basically turned my FLORAL basket into a MUSHROOM basket. Mushrooms thrived while the flowers barely bloomed. Every morning I would pull out all the mushrooms, but by the next morning there would be a whole new crop of them. Aside from the bad experience with the granules, the other years I planted healthy annuals in early March and would enjoy blooming till almost Thanksgiving, provided the plants did not get decimated by Santa Ana winds that we sometimes get in the fall. (If we do get Santa Anas, it goes from a daytime high of 72* one day, with moisture from the marine layer, to 104* raging winds the next. It is hard to keep the plants happy when this happens.) Incidentally, I am a cheapskate so I didn't want to pay the $120 or so Roger's charges for their huge wire basket planting. I thought I would get the look for less by buying the plants and basket and putting it together myself. The first season I did this, I bought flats of annuals at Home Depot, but by the time I had enough to create the lush, full Roger's look in a big basket, I had spent over $100, plus half a day making and then cleaning up the huge mess of planting it. (Not to mention several trips to HD because I needed way more plants than I thought.) Last year, I really did save money, and work, by starting with a large basket with multiple trailing and bushy flowers sold at Lowe's for $18, plus a few other plants.

Terrybull: What are you using for potting soil? In Southwest Ohio, I would be concerned about only needing to water once a week in the summer. I am using Al's 5-1-1 in my baskets this year. Last year I used a quality nonsoil mix with composted bark and peat. When it got very hot and dry, I had to water every other day. I don't think that's unreasonable. Four weeks into this season, I think the 5-1-1 has already proved it's worth. We've had unseasonable cold and record breaking rainfall. None of my hanging coir-lined baskets are soggy, and they are growing well.

Sorry, folks, the photo (and the greenhouse) is not mine. It belongs to one of the members of a Vietnamese garden forum I participate. I'm not sure about the name of the plant, though. But it looks to me like a lipstick plant. jan1, I don't grow commercially but I intend to when I retire from my current job LOL. I'm lucky to be in a favorable climate for growing plants and flowers. Glad you enjoyed it. Xuan