“Do we need some color in the front yard?”.

Jamie wasn’t asking me a question. It was more of a statement that he was going to do something about the lack of color out there.

Something like a whiskey barrel full of color.

For some reason, these things were not to be found in November when we wanted to put a Christmas tree in one.

Now they are everywhere.

While I focused on taking down the last remnants of Christmas – that giant vintage ornament wreath (and yes…..it was mid-March) – Jamie added one of these beauties to our front porch.

He started by drilling a few drainage holes in the bottom with a 1 inch paddle bit.

Why on Earth would H-Depot sell these as planters with out drainage holes? A couple big rocks over the holes will keep all the soil from washing out.

The barrel weighs a ton already, and we want to be able to move it someday, so Jamie filled the bottom couple of inches with packing peanuts.

Yeah, you can do that. They pretty much add a layer of air under the soil. As long as they aren’t the kind made from cornstarch and dissolve in water…….I think y’all see the issue with those.

I’m not a huge fan of annual flowers, (they only live a few short months) but Jamie likes them…and I do admit that the color in the front of the house makes the place look more “homey”.

So we picked an assortment that looks like they would be growing naturally on the Texas roadside.

Euryops Daisys in sunny yellow and Osteospermum in orange and yellow…..

….a silvery lavender (just for texture)…and chartreuse sweet potato vines because they are next to impossible to kill. Plus we know that they will gently cascade over the barrel edges quite nicely.

We waited a few weeks ….and this is what we have now,