Beginner Gardening: Help me plan my basket!, 1 by earthgarden

earthgarden wrote:
hi,
i bought 3 lovely planters today which i plan to hang from my balcony. This is the first time i plan to grow flower basket & have been spending few $$$ lately preparing for spring/summer. Pls help me decide what to plant in them so that my balcony on 3rd floor looks lovely from road. Also let me know the soil type required - i am confused between Potting soil & potting mix. I live in zone 9( zone14 according to sunset magzine) - north california(sacramento : temperature daytime in January will be 55'F and nite: 40's while in summers (june-july) it touches 90's.
The planters will get sun only after noon 1:00 pm.
thanks