Which plants for a wall basket that dries out a lot?

I have a very high wall basket that is so difficult for me to reach to water it that it tends to dry out a lot. I just noticed that even the weed growing in it has just died with all the recent dry weather. I think it is a dandelion, so probably it is just the leaves that died and it will be back.

I am wondering if bulbs would be ok with not getting much water except during winter when it rains a lot? I grow a lot of Cyclamen and have various species at all stages from seed to mature corm, and wonder if they would cope with drying out in the summer?

A friend kindly installed these baskets to create more vertical planting space, and they are fixed on a heavy rod, so I can't take them down to plunge them into buckets, I can just about reach the lower two baskets and the run off waters a big pot underneath them. When I need to replant them I can carefully ease out the coco coir lining, I can't actually take down the basket part, but this is very fiddly, and I need a step ladder and to move a lot of pots out of the way, even then it is a stretch to reach the top basket.

All my wall baskets need watering at least once a day in summer, it is this very high up one that I just can't reach that dries out when the winter rains stop.

 

Try Sempervivums @groundbeetle, they are happy in dry soil and will eventually spill over the sides as they expand.

 

I just googled Sempervivums and it looks like they go dormant in summer, so maybe they would work. I know they dislike wet soil. They look a bit like cacti, without the prickles, which grow in the desert, so maybe suitable for a dry basket.

 

Cyclamen will take drying out over the summer, I have them growing on a drystone wall happily, autumn flowering, foliage in winter, the largest ones are over 6 in across.
Sempervivums are European Alpine plants, there are many varieties available. As they live high in the mountains of Europe, often in cracks on rocks. they cope well with dry conditions and high UV, they are also very cold tolerant and often covered in snow over winter. They really don't look like cacti at all. I wouldn't describe them as summer dormant as that's when they flower. They will need a very gritty well drained compost to come through the winter rains. I grow them on the same drystone wall as the cyclamen and also in shallow soil in a rockery.
Jovibarba are similar to Sempervivums.
A lot of bulbs will not be keen on getting very dry over summer, some tulips will cope, but you seeing the flowers might be tricky.
I think I would consider removing the highest basket and doing without.

 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Watering-A...8-4-spons&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9hdGY&th=1
What about something like this? There are cheaper ones available but you need a decent length and at least 180 degree adjustability.

 

It probably wouldn't help my situation, I don't even have a hosepipe and a hosepipe could be problematic here. But a very clever idea for anyone who already has a hosepipe and lots of high up wall or hanging baskets making it worth their while investing in one of those.

 

Reading all of the problems you have with the highest basket I would give up trying to grow anything in it. Save your time, energy and money. Not worth the hassle.

 

Buy a high powered pump action water pistol and have fun.

 

Could your friend possibly re-site the baskets so that they are all within easy reach?