54 Trailing houseplants for shelves and hanging baskets 🌿
Nothing softens a room like a plant spilling down off a shelf or a hanging basket. These are the houseplants built to trail - vines, string-of plants and cascading growers whose notes describe long stems that drape, tumble and climb rather than sit upright in a pot.
Trailing plants get their light from above, so the growing tip nearest the light stays fullest. Rotate them, and trim leggy strands to keep the whole plant lush rather than bald at the top.
Anthurium Vittarifolium
Anthurium Vittarifolium is a pendant, strap-leaf aroid prized for its dramatically long…
Arrowhead Plant (Syngonium podophyllum)
The Arrowhead Plant - also sold as the "Goosefoot Plant" or simply Syngonium - is one of the…
Asparagus Fern
The asparagus fern looks feathery and fern-like but is actually a member of the asparagus…
Baby Tears (Soleirolia soleirolii - Angel's Tears)
Baby Tears - also called Angel's Tears, Mind-Your-Own-Business, or by its botanical name…
Beetle Peperomia
Beetle Peperomia is a compact, trailing epiphyte prized for its small, glossy leaves marked…
Boston Fern (Nephrolepis exaltata)
The Boston Fern is the lush, cascading classic of the fern world - a soft fountain of arching…
Burro's Tail (Sedum morganianum)
The Burro's Tail - Sedum morganianum, also known as the donkey's tail - is a trailing succulent…
Christmas Cactus (Schlumbergera)
The Christmas Cactus is a beloved heirloom houseplant - the one that bursts into vivid, exotic…
Dischidia (Button Orchid / Ant Plant)
Dischidia is a genus of small, trailing epiphytes from the same family as the Hoya - and if you…
Dragon Wing Begonia
The Dragon Wing Begonia is a vigorous, fibrous-rooted cane begonia prized for its glossy…
English Ivy (Hedera helix)
English Ivy is the classic trailing, climbing vine - elegant, lush, and full of old-world…
Epiphyllum (Orchid Cactus)
The Epiphyllum - commonly called the Orchid Cactus - is a jungle cactus that breaks all the…
Fishbone Cactus (Epiphyllum anguliger)
The Fishbone Cactus - Epiphyllum anguliger - is a trailing jungle cactus grown above all for…
Goldfish Plant (Nematanthus / Columnea)
The Goldfish Plant earns its name the moment it flowers.
Gynura (Purple Passion Plant)
The Purple Passion Plant (Gynura aurantiaca) is one of those houseplants that people fall for…
Hatiora (Easter Cactus)
The Easter Cactus (Hatiora gaertneri, sometimes sold as Rhipsalidopsis gaertneri or…
Heartleaf Philodendron (Philodendron hederaceum)
The Heartleaf Philodendron is, for many growers, the single easiest trailing houseplant in…
Hoya (Wax Plant)
The Hoya, or Wax Plant, is a long-lived, easy-going trailing and climbing plant beloved for two…
Hoya Bella
Hoya bella is the miniature that outblooms the giants - a dainty, arching shrublet whose thin…
Hoya Compacta (Hindu Rope)
Hoya compacta is the rope of living curls - a carnosa mutation whose leaves twist and fold into…
Hoya Curtisii
Hoya curtisii is the tiniest carpet in the genus - fingernail leaves of grey-green mosaic on…
Hoya Kerrii (Sweetheart Hoya)
Hoya kerrii is the valentine of the plant world - thick, perfectly heart-shaped leaves sold by…
Hoya Lacunosa
Hoya lacunosa is the perfume specialist - modest dimpled little leaves, and then flowers whose…
Hoya Linearis
Hoya linearis looks like no other hoya - a waterfall of soft, needle-thin, fuzzy strands…
Hoya Retusa
Hoya retusa is the grass hoya - flat, ribbon-thin leaves notched at the tip, tumbling from the…
Hoya Serpens
Hoya serpens is the collector's soft one - penny-round fuzzy leaves on creeping stems and, at…
Hoya Wayetii
Hoya wayetii is the pinstripe hoya - narrow keel-shaped leaves edged in dark maroon that…
Ice Plant
The ice plant is a low, spreading succulent smothered, in summer, in brilliant daisy-like…
Lipstick Plant (Aeschynanthus radicans)
The Lipstick Plant - Aeschynanthus radicans - is a trailing tropical epiphyte grown for two…
Monkey Tail Cactus
The monkey tail cactus grows long, trailing, furry white stems that spill over the pot edge…
Monstera Adansonii (Swiss Cheese Vine)
The Monstera Adansonii - the "Swiss Cheese Vine" - is the smaller, trailing, holey cousin of…
Monstera Siltepecana (Silver Monstera)
Monstera siltepecana - the "Silver Monstera" - is one of the most rewarding aroids for someone…
Peperomia
Peperomia is not one plant but a huge, wonderfully varied family of compact, easy, pet-safe…
Peperomia Hope
Peperomia Hope is a compact, semi-trailing houseplant loved for its plump, coin-shaped leaves…
Philodendron Brasil (Philodendron hederaceum 'Brasil')
The Philodendron Brasil is a trailing heartleaf philodendron whose glossy green leaves come…
Philodendron Micans (Philodendron hederaceum var. hederaceum)
The Philodendron Micans - Philodendron hederaceum var. hederaceum - is the velvet-leaf form of…
Portulacaria Afra (Dwarf Jade / Elephant Bush)
Portulacaria afra - known as Dwarf Jade or Elephant Bush - is a fast-growing, bushy succulent…
Pothos (Epipremnum aureum / Devil's Ivy)
Pothos is the friendliest trailing vine in the houseplant world - fast, forgiving, beautiful…
Prayer Plant (Maranta leuconeura)
The Prayer Plant - Maranta leuconeura - is one of the most captivating houseplants you can own…
Rabbit's Foot Fern (Davallia fejeensis)
The Rabbit's Foot Fern - Davallia fejeensis - is a delicate, lacy fern grown for two things…
Rat Tail Cactus
The rat tail cactus is a trailing desert cactus grown for its long, slender, pendant stems that…
Rhaphidophora Tetrasperma (Mini Monstera)
The Rhaphidophora Tetrasperma - almost always sold as the "Mini Monstera" - is one of the most…
Rhipsalis (Mistletoe Cactus)
Rhipsalis - the "Mistletoe Cactus" - is a cactus that breaks all the rules you think you know…
Ruby Necklace (Othonna capensis)
Ruby necklace is a fast, trailing succulent whose bean-shaped leaves hang on striking ruby-red…
Satin Pothos (Scindapsus pictus)
The Satin Pothos - sometimes sold as "Silver Pothos" or "Silk Pothos" - is one of those plants…
Spider Plant (Chlorophytum comosum)
The Spider Plant is the cheerful, generous, almost foolproof classic of the houseplant world.
String of Bananas (Curio radicans)
The String of Bananas - sometimes still sold under its older name Senecio radicans - is one of…
String of Dolphins (Senecio peregrinus)
String of Dolphins is one of the most charming novelty succulents you can grow.
String of Hearts (Ceropegia woodii)
The String of Hearts is one of the most delicate and romantic of all trailing houseplants…
String of Pearls (Senecio rowleyanus / Curio rowleyanus)
String of Pearls is one of the most distinctive and photogenic of all houseplants - long…
String of Turtles (Peperomia prostrata)
The String of Turtles - Peperomia prostrata - is a delicate, slow-growing trailing plant grown…
Swedish Ivy (Plectranthus verticillatus)
Swedish Ivy - Plectranthus verticillatus - is one of the easiest and fastest trailing…
Tradescantia (Inch Plant / Wandering Dude)
Tradescantia is the fast, lush, colorful trailing plant that fills a hanging pot almost before…
Tuberous Begonia
The Tuberous Begonia is a flowering tuberous perennial prized for its large, rose-like or…
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Choosing a plant for a home with pets? Our table of plants toxic to cats and dogs shows what every profile says - and the reference behind it is the ASPCA toxic and non-toxic plant list.