The Unique Trailing Cactus With Pretty Pink Flowers That Looks Great In Hanging Baskets

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Hanging baskets can give us more places to grow gorgeous foliage and flowers, both inside and outside of the home. But we rarely consider cacti as options for this method of displaying beautiful greenery and blooms. That's too bad because some of us are missing out. Take rat tail cactus (Aporocactus flagelliformis) for instance — a gorgeous flowering plant that looks perfect in hanging baskets, and is one of the top 10 cacti for beginner gardeners to tackle. If you have the right growing conditions you can bring one home to enjoy its unique vegetation and striking floral displays.

When you care for a rat tail cactus properly, you'll have long, trailing stems with gorgeous blooms before you know it. This fast-growing species from Mexico cascades out of hanging baskets, growing up to 12 inches a year and eventually reaching nearly 5 feet in length. Its flowers are similar to those of Christmas cacti and can be shades of pink or red, blooming in spring and summer. You can enjoy it as part of an indoor, hanging succulent garden, and those in warm climates of USDA Hardiness Zones 10 to 11, can grow these plants outdoors all year long.

Those of us who love succulents might want to ultimately grow rat tail cactus in a hanging basket, but it's much more affordable to start with a small specimen in a nursery pot, such as this 2-Inch Rat Tail Succulent from California Tropicals. It can be very challenging to find a hanging basket for this size plant, and you don't want to plant one in a container that's too big for fear of root rot. However, you can turn any small pot into a suspended planter with the right supports, including these Hand-Woven Macrame Plant Hangers by Litlandstar. Just keep in mind that this cactus does have prickly spines on it, so hang it where you won't be likely to brush against the trailing stems.

When you are ready to hang a rat tail cactus in your home, be sure to choose the right location to encourage its hot pink blooms. If you've tried growing this or similar cacti as houseplants before and didn't get any flowers, you may not have been offering enough light. Rat tail cactus needs full to part sun, which means at least three hours a day of direct sunlight so you can count this among the indoor plants that are perfect for a south-facing window. To complement the light needs of this succulent, water it regularly during the growing season but allow the soil to dry out completely between waterings – around once a week. However, you may need to allow a month to go by between waterings in winter. Care for your potted plant correctly, and it will reward you with gorgeous flowers come spring and summer.