15 Awesome Hanging Succulents

Anyone could admire a happy, well placed hanging plant.

If you’d like to have your own basket, but you’re not ready to commit a slot in your daily schedule to maintaining one, we might have your answer.

Hanging succulents are attractive, interesting, and almost always easy to care for. Whether you’re hoping to fill a sunny spot or shady spot, these 15 succulents will surely find a place in your heart.


October Daphne (Sedum sieboldii)

A stunning outdoor option that makes a wonderful ground cover or rock garden inhabitant just as well as a hanging basket!

This is an evergreen plant that mounds up to 1 foot tall before creeping another 12 to 15 inches. It will produce a fountain of leaves that turn pink in cool conditions. In the late summer to fall, bees and butterflies will be delighted by bundles of tiny, pink flowers similar to a Spiraea bush. Combine this with longer trailing succulents or a rosette succulent for a truly incredible display.

The October Daphne is a cold hardy plant that can stick around year after year with minimal maintenance. This plant also comes in a large array of cultivars for different leaf colors and patterns.

  • Indoor or Outdoor: Usually kept outdoors but can be kept indoors with enough light.
  • Recommended zone: Hardy from zone 3 to zone 10!
  • Care difficulty: Very easy!
  • Light: Full sun. Some shade in extreme heat.
  • Soil: Poor, well-draining soil.
  • Water: Allow to dry before watering.
  • Fertilizer: Twice a month at 25-50% strength during growing season.

String of Pearls (Senecio Rowleyanus)

Senecio rowleyanus

If you love hanging plants that seem to trail forever, the String of Pearls might just be what you’re looking for! These stems, decorated with tiny spherical leaves, can easily stretch to 3 feet. If it seems too long, you can always take a quick trimming and tuck it back into the soil. This is a great way to produce more volume with your basket if it’s not filling out.

During the dry season, to encourage blooms, allow the String of Pearls to stay cool and reduce its water. If it decides to bloom come spring or early summer, these shows can last up to two months long and are marked with tiny white blooms on offshoots sent by the stems that are clearly visible even from below.

  • Indoor or Outdoor: Both! This will do well indoors, but in warm climates, can meet its overwintering bloom needs.
  • Recommended zone: Hardy to zone 9.
  • Care difficulty: Easy.
  • Light: Bright light or strong morning sun.
  • Soil: Sandy, well-draining soil.
  • Water: Allow soil to dry before watering.
  • Fertilizer: Worm compost in early spring or every other week during the growing season.

Wax Plant (Hoya carnosa)

Hoya carnosa

Many plant keepers have seen or even had a Hoya carnosa without ever realizing it is a succulent! If you’ve struggled with them before, or know someone who has, recognizing that it is a succulent is a game changer!

This is a common and well-beloved plant with long, dark green leaves on long stems. It loves to sprawl and spread out over the edges of a hanging pot.

Another option that can bloom, the Wax Plant will do well in shade but will only bloom with enough light and regular fertilizer. It sends out unique and fun blooms that are star-shaped, pink, and fleshy!

  • Indoor or Outdoor: Almost always grown indoors. Can be grown outdoors in warm climates or during the warm season of cooler climates!
  • Recommended zone: Hardy to zone 10.
  • Care difficulty: Easy.
  • Light: Bright, indirect spot indoors. Semi-shade or morning sun outdoors.
  • Soil: Well-draining soil.
  • Water: Wait for soil to dry before watering.
  • Fertilizer: Monthly at 25-50% strength during spring and summer.

Burro’s Tail or Burrito (Sedum morganianum)

Sedum morganianum

Burro’s Tail is a fun looking vine that even boasts a little shade tolerance! These leaves are really fun with grain shapes that form tight clumps down the stems. While it’s easy to get them to trail to easily two feet, a fully mature plant can happily reach four feet long! These hanging succulents produce a luxurious, full display all on their own!

Do keep in mind that many keepers find that the leaves drop easily when the plant is disturbed, so it’ll do best if you choose a spot where it won’t be bumped or handled frequently (even if succulent leaves are too amazing to leave alone). If they do fall off, don’t fret! This is a succulent variety this is not toxic to animals or people.

Burro’s tail is a fantastic choice for anyone hoping for an easy, no stress, no spiny frills hanging basket that still looks great!

  • Indoor or Outdoor: Can be either, if light needs are met.
  • Recommended zone: Hardy to zone 10.
  • Care difficulty: Easy.
  • Light: Bright light, from full sun to partial shade.
  • Soil: Well-draining cactus mix.
  • Water: Allow soil to dry before watering.
  • Fertilizer: Only once a year during spring at 50% strength.

Wax Ivy or Natal Ivy (Senecio macroglossus)

Senecio macroglossus

The Wax Ivy is known for its triangular leaves that resemble, well, ivy, despite no relation. It is a beautiful stand-in with the hardiness of a succulent. Most commonly seen in the variegated variety, this a fabulous choice for a hanging basket, especially if you’re hoping for something indoors.

If you don’t find hanging plants only a few feet long impressive, the Wax Ivy is sure to wow with a maximum length of ten feet! This is a long-flowing, full plant that will have no trouble filling out and overflowing a basket to create a perfect image of a hanging plant.

If you have been hoping for an easy, fun, attractive display for that empty basket, take a look at the wax ivy!

  • Indoor or Outdoor: Often kept as a houseplant.
  • Recommended zone: Hardy to zone 9, does best closer to zone 11.
  • Care difficulty: Easy!
  • Light: Bright, indirect sunlight.
  • Soil: Loamy, well-draining potting mix
  • Water: Allow soil to dry out slightly between watering.
  • Fertilizer: Not necessary. At most, half strength once a year.

Ghost Plant or Mother of Pearl (Graptopetalum paraguayense)

Graptopetalum paraguayense

For a succulent that is interesting but familiar, incredibly easy, and does well outdoors, the Ghost Plant is one of the best candidates!

The Ghost Plant grows small rosettes on trailing stems that can reach 3 feet long. Thanks to its home in the Chihuahua region of the Rocky Mountains, this is a heat- and sun-loving plant that will flourish in the garden! It will find both hanging baskets and tall planters to be excellent homes for displaying its lovely leaves.

With enough sunlight, these green rosettes become colorful with displays of yellows and gradients of pink. If you don’t have a sunny spot, it will still be a show stopper with silvers, purples, and blues.

It does produce a powder coating on its leaves that must be protected from water, so ensure it is protected from rainfall.

In the spring, happy plants can be expected to produce small, yellow blooms!

  • Indoor or Outdoor: Best grown outdoors and can be overwintered indoors.
  • Recommended zone: Cold hardy to zone 9. In colder zones, overwinter indoors or grow as an annual.
  • Care difficulty: Very easy!
  • Light: Full sun outdoors. Bright light indoors.
  • Soil: Well-draining succulent mix.
  • Water: Allow to dry before watering.
  • Fertilizer: Once in early spring.

String of Hearts (Ceropegia woodii)

Ceropegia Woodii

Ceropegia woodii produces much smaller leaves in a matting trail. While it can, in the best conditions and its native habitat, reach up to 12 feet long, most keepers find it stays closer to 2 feet, with happier and more mature ones commonly reaching 4 feet. Since these leaves grow into thick mats, they have a tendency of wrapping around the base of their pots for a great effect!

If your preference is small leaves that form a mat, this is an excellent choice! String of Hearts is mostly grown for its beautiful foliage! Varieties can be just green with light veins, they can have red accents, they can even be variegated with bits of yellow mixed in.

This is a vine with a lot of options for display that makes a wonderful accompaniment to any home!

  • Indoor or Outdoor:  Usually indoors.
  • Recommended zone: Hardy to Zone 10.
  • Care difficulty: Easy.
  • Light: Bright, sometimes direct, light.
  • Soil: Sandy, well-draining soil.
  • Water: Keep somewhat moist during growing seasons, allow to dry before watering during winter. Err on the side of dry.
  • Fertilizer: Monthly at half strength during growing season.

Creeping Inchplant or Turtle Vine (Callisia repens)

Callisia repens Creeping Inchplant

This is a fun, bushy plant with trailing tendencies! It will grow up to 4 inches in height while spreading 4 feet. The Creeping Inchplant is fast-growing succulent that will make a wonderful display in the summer. Rather than trailing as far as it can reach, it prefers to stay clumped and dense and produces more of a large ball-shape. For this reason, it not only works well in a hanging container, it also makes a great choice for a planter on the table or even a tall planter outdoors!

In late spring and early summer, a happy plant can produce small, white flowers to adorn its stems. In cool temperatures, its leaves may also develop purple-red coloration.

All in all, this is a colorful, bushy hanging succulent that may ask for more attention due its moisture needs, but its growth habits and full appearance make it worth it!

  • Indoor or Outdoor: Usually outdoors in warm weather, overwintered indoors in cool climates.
  • Recommended zone: Hardy to zone 8.
  • Care difficulty: Intermediate.
  • Light: Bright, filtered light indoors. Partial shade outdoors, full sun if soil can be kept moist.
  • Soil: Fertile, well-draining soils.
  • Water: Keep moist, never soggy, consistently. Do not allow to try out.
  • Fertilizer: Once a month during growing season.

Kitten Ears or Furry Kittens (Cyanotis somaliensis)

Cyanotis somaliensis

If you love soft plants, succulents have a lot of choices for you. If you love hanging plants as well, then the Kitten Ears might just be it!

Its long leaves have V shaped indentations and are completely covered in somewhat long, white hairs. These leaves grow on stems that can eventually reach about 18 inches tall.

While those in warmer climates sometimes grow it in a pot, it does trail and make a wonderful hanging basket! It is also sometimes given a shallow pot and allowed to roam around its table. Whichever you choose, a quick trimming every now and then will encourage it to become bushier.

This is a fairly unusual looking plant as well. If you’d love to care for something that is as fun to look at as it is to touch, or even address, then Kitten Ears a perfect option!

  • Indoor or Outdoor: Almost always a houseplant, but warm climates enjoy it as a garden feature.
  • Recommended zone: Hardy to zone 10.
  • Care difficulty: Easy.
  • Light: Bright, indirect light.
  • Soil: Well-draining soil, or soil amended with sand.
  • Water: When first inch of soil becomes dry.
  • Fertilizer: Once a month between spring and fall.

Rex Begonia Vine (Cissus javana or discolor)

Cissus javana

If you’ve always admired the Begonia Rex, but found their care intimidating, the look-alike succulent Rex Begonia Vine is a fabulous choice! While the Begonia Rex can be more demanding, the Rex Begonia Vine is generally a very easy plant to grow.

This a colorful vine grown for its stunning foliage with green, sometimes purple, leaves accented with white veins and deep purple undersides. Not only do its long, triangular leaves fill out any basket, they can trail for ten feet! This is a stunning vine that seems to reach toward the ground at almost height.

It also comes with some versatility. It is a climbing vine in the wild that will not only do well on a trellis but can be grown on a totem pole for a full standing display.

  • Indoor or Outdoor: Either! Makes a wonderful indoor hanging basket!
  • Recommended zone: Hardy to Zone 10-11, this vine is often kept as an annual or overwintered inside. This is a large plant, so choose a container you can easily bring inside if you choose to overwinter.
  • Care difficulty: Easy indoors, intermediate outdoors.
  • Light: Bright, indirect light. Does not like shade.
  • Soil: Well-drained soil.
  • Water: Keep soil moist but not soggy.
  • Fertilizer: Once every two weeks.

Mistletoe Cactus (Rhipsalis spp.)

Mistletoe Cactus (Rhipsalis sp.)

Certainly an unusual option, the Mistletoe Cactus isn’t a standard succulent found in the soil of dry regions but is, instead, an epiphyte. It is accustomed to the odd nature of hanging in the wild and is found tucked into the pockets of tree trunks.

It is a thick, voluminous plant with leaves and branches resembling a thick, trailing dill plant. Many of these species grow to a stunning 6 feet long.

If you’re looking for something show-stopping and unbelievable, take a look at the Red Rhipsalis, also Red Mistletoe Cactus (Rhipsalis ramulosa). It sports thicker, flatter leaves like the Christmas Cactus that blush red in sunlight and produce strings of berries. While its stems are much shorter at closer to 2 feet in length, they are wide and colorful enough to attract anyone’s attention.

  • Outdoor or Indoor: Mostly kept as an indoor hanging plant, but some climates and varieties can benefit from outdoor life.
  • Recommended zone: Hardy to zones 9-10.
  • Care difficulty: Easy to intermediate.
  • Light: Morning sun, full shade during afternoon.
  • Soil: None mounted. Otherwise, potting mix or cactus mix.
  • Water: Frequently during spring and summer, suspend in winter.
  • Fertilizer: Rarely necessary. Once a month during growing season.
  • Benefits from higher humidity.

Little Pickles or Ruby Necklace (Othonna capensis)

Othonna capensis
Frank Vincentz, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

This little succulent isn’t just an adorable name. It is a hardy, versatile, and fun succulent that fits into a variety of situations and climates!

It forms dense, trailing mats that not only make a wonderful choice for rock gardens or as a ground cover, but also as hanging baskets with its stems creeping over the edges! While its full, round leaves are interesting, featuring a resemble to cornichons, it also has bright red stems that make it stand out anywhere!

If that isn’t enough of a color contrast, Little Pickles will produce yellow, daisy-like flowers throughout the growing season. Still not enough? The cornichon-like leaves can also develop the burgundy coloration, resulting in a green to entirely red plant with yellow daisies.

It’s a head turner, for sure. In a small package of just 1-2 inches tall and up to a foot wide, this hanging succulent can fit into anyone’s life!

  • Indoor or Outdoor: Just as at home outdoors as indoors.
  • Recommended zone: Hardy to zone 5! In colder climates, grow as an annual or overwinter indoors.
  • Care difficulty: Easy!
  • Light: Full sun.
  • Soil: Well-draining soil.
  • Water: Allow soil to dry before watering.
  • Fertilizer: Not necessary. If desired, once or twice during the growing season, at half strength.

String of Nickels or Button Orchid (Dischida Nummularia)

String of Nickels

Another exception to the dry terrestrial club, Dischida is a succulent epiphyte! These plants are perfect for growing in baskets.

The Button Orchid is a tropical and thick vine growing up to a foot tall and 3 feet wide with thick, round leaves growing in pairs. These leaves grow in dense mats that will fill in any mounting, potting, or hanging option.

It is possible for it to bloom and produce tiny, pouch-shaped white flowers that aren’t showy or too obvious. However, these are not often seen in cultivation or noticed if they do occur. The String of Nickels is best known for its long-trailing nature with full leaves!

This plant will excel in hanging pots as well as mounted. With the right soil and room to trail, it can also make a beautiful display in a pot. For something a little different, this plant is known to do very well as a leaving wreath!

  • Indoor or Outdoor: Generally kept as a houseplant in most climates.
  • Recommended zone: Hardy to zone 11.
  • Care difficulty: Intermediate.
  • Light: Morning light or bright to medium, indirect light.
  • Soil: Well-draining epiphyte mix.
  • Water: Can dry slightly but prefers to stay moist (never soggy).
  • Fertilizer: Not necessary. Repot annually instead.

Rattail Cactus (Aporocactus flagelliformis)

Rattail Cactus (Aporocactus flagelliformis)

Growing as an epiphyte or lithophyte in the wild, this plant is happy to trail over any container you put it in! The Rattail Cactus grows just stems (rather than leaves) that are covered in tiny spines resembling coarse hair, making it close to the spitting image of its namesake.

The Rattail Cactus’s stems can grow for up to 5 feet long and 1 inch thick. It will do best in a hanging basket or mounted so that it doesn’t risk pricking anyone with its spines. While the spines can take on a softened look, take care with them as they are a little sharp.

In addition to its “full head of hair” appearance, these succulents will produce beautiful pink blooms down its stems in the spring that will last for about a week. These flowers make for quite a showy display!

  • Indoor or Outdoor: Most common as a houseplant.
  • Recommended zone: Hardy outdoors to Zone 10a.
  • Care difficulty: Intermediate.
  • Light: Bright light year-round.
  • Soil: Use a sandy, well-draining soil.
  • Water: Enough to keep soil moist, not soggy. Water less frequently during winter.
  • Fertilizer: Half-strength once every two weeks during spring and summer.

Red Pagoda or Shark Tooth (Crassula capitella)

Crassula capitella

The Shark Tooth plant begins by growing upright stacked leaves that will grow into trailing stems. At some points, these stems can spiral for a fascinating look! Once they get to about 6 inches tall, the stems will begin to trail and will drape over a basket and spread up to 2 feet. While they may seem small at first, it will send out runners that will fill out any space it’s in.

Native to South Africa, this succulent will benefit from long, cool nights in the winter. With enough, its leaves will develop shades of red across them, with some plants becoming entirely red, yellow, and green.

Once winter ends, they’re likely to drop the ends of their stems to propagate. If you don’t want any more hanging baskets, you can still collect these plantlets and place them in the garden (they’ll do great in a rock garden) and they will make a nice ground cover!

The rest of the year, their sometimes-spiraled origami style leaves are a stunning green!

  • Indoor or Outdoor: Both! Usually kept as an indoor plant.
  • Recommended zone: Hardy to zone 9.
  • Care difficulty: Very easy.
  • Light: Bright light.
  • Soil: Gritty cactus soil.
  • Water: Allow soil to dry before watering.
  • Fertilizer: Up to once a month during growing season.

About The Author

Teri Tracy

Hi, I'm Teri! I am a plant collector and former botanist who's spent years learning about and caring for plants from all over the world. I'm passionate about biodiversity and rainforest preservation, and I love to study newly discovered plants in my free time. 

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