Your flowering hanging basket can bloom and thrive for many months - with a little help from you. Just follow these easy guidelines to keep your plants healthy and beautiful throughout the season.

Is the Light Right?
Most flowering hanging baskets will tolerate a wide range of light conditions, though some will balk at the heat and drying of all-day sunlight or the dimness of all-day shade. Match your plant with its light location for best results.
-Ivy geraniums and Zonal geraniums will tolerate the brightest conditions and an occasional drying out.
- Petunias also appreciate a sunny location.
- Impatiens and begonias keep the shadiest spots bright.
-Fuchsia do best in a spot that gets some shade during the middle of the day.

Water before Wilting
Don't wait for wilting as your cue to water! Flowering plants do best if you never allow them to wilt. Take extra care with watering since hanging plants dry out faster than garden plants, because they're exposed to more wind and warmer temperatures.
Under average conditions, flowering plants in 10-inch diameter hanging baskets use 16 to 32 fluid ounces of water per day. With proper watering, the plant should last 2 to 4 days between waterings.
Be sure to water thoroughly. If the basket dries out, the soil may shrink and allow the water to quickly run out the drain hole, fooling you into thinking it's thoroughly watered, when, in fact, the water is bypassing the roots. Make sure the basket becomes heavy with water, about 7 to 9 lbs. You may need to re-water the basket again in 15 minutes - or soak it in a bucket of water for 5 to 10 minutes to thoroughly moisten the soil.

Fertilize When Needed
Even if you've never allowed them to wilt, your plants may develop yellow leaves and poor flowering which can indicate a need for fertilizer. Add 1 or 2 teaspoons per gallon of a water-soluble fertilizer that has 15 to 20% nitrogen into the watering can every two weeks and your baskets should stay green and flowering.
You can also use plastic-coated slow-release fertilizer beads. Apply one to two tablespoons to the soil surface at the start of the summer to last all season long. Keep in mind that if a little fertilizer is good, a lot is NOT better. Too much fertilizer can burn roots and damage plants.

Clean Up Your Plants
With proper watering and fertilizing, your basket plants will flower so much that you may need to remove dead flowers and seed pods. This helps keep the plant looking its best - and is a nice way to relax after a long day, which is what gardening is all about!

Moving Them Outdoors
If you do receive a hanging basket for Mother's Day, it will probably be too cold to hang your plant outdoors and leave it. If the temperatures threaten to dip close to or below freezing bring it into a sheltered place at night, the garage works great. Just remember to bring it outdoors again during the day. Once the temperatures moderate you will no longer have to move it in and out.