Spring Porch- galvanized bucket and repurposed vintage cooler flower planters

Today I'm going to share my Spring Porch
with how what I planted.

Every year one of the things I look forward to most
in the Spring is planting flowers!

There's something so therapeutic about getting out in the dirt 

and having something beautiful to show for it.

I found this awesome cooler at the flea market a few weeks ago 

and thought it would make a great planter.  

I looked and looked (around the town I live in) for other pots to go with the cooler
and couldn't find anything I liked.  

If only I'd thought about it while I was at the flea market last time, 

I could have picked up a few more buckets or something similar.

My searches eventually lead me to
Tractor Supply Co (not sponsored or affiliate)
where I found these galvanized metal buckets.  

They were perfect!

Actually a little too perfect.
They have a really shiny finish, but I'm a fan of rusty and crusty.  

So I tried this method to age them.  It didn't work.

Then I tried this method.  It just made the surface slightly less shiny.
Those buckets from TSC will stand up to the elements, that is for sure!! 

So I just decided to hit them with a little dusting
of textured spray paint.  (amazon affiliate link)
Then I drilled holes in the bottom for drainage.

(images from my Pinterest page)


I found some great ideas on Pinterest for flowers.

Everything I read said that for beautifully balanced pots, one needs
a thriller, or a plant that spikes up and adds interest,
a filler, flowers that fill in the spots and add prettiness,
and a spiller, something that spills out of the planter.

I purchased all of my plants at Lowes.

Back at home I filled the buckets up with potting soil.
In the soil, I then carved out holes for the plants so that the top of the roots of the plant
is even with the top of the soil in the planter.
Then I tucked soil all around the plants.
I repeated this same process with every flower I planted.

I stacked a skinny bucket onto the large round one.

I put a clay pot in the bottom bucket upside down 

for the top bucket to have 

something stable to sit on.

I placed the buckets onto a vintage crate 

my mother in law gave me.

Next to that I placed 2 smaller pots into a little red wagon.

I placed a cage type thing in the pot on the right 

so the sweet potato vine with have 

something to climb on.

I love this little cooler!

I didn't want to put holes in the bottom of this, 

so I used a bucket with holes in the 

bottom as a planter and set that inside the cooler.

For thriller plants I chose Spike Dracaena.
For filler, I chose Petunias, Dusty Miller and Vinca.
For spiller, I chose Sweet potato vine and Setcreasea.

I also planted some marigolds
(in addition to all of my perenials that I've planted over the years)
in my front garden.  I can't wait until all of the plants grow and it all fills in!



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