Hi,

I am planting a few flower plants in a very large whisky barrel and I am very nervous about transplanting all these plants. I am new to gardening and very excited about learning but I just don't want to learn the hard way so I thought to get input from the pros. When I moved into the house I bought, they left wood barrels everywhere. The soil seems pretty good but there were weeds that I removed, my husband said to remove all the old soil but nursery says to leave it. I took out half the soil that was left in the barrel and put in EB Stone container soil, but didn't mix it with the old soil, should I? Also, the barrel is located in morning sun with some early evening sun, maybe 4-5 hours of total sun.

I am thinking about planting the following:

2 tall foxglove plants

4 snapdragons that I purchased in a six pack

2 evolution blue salvia

Possibly 1 medium trailing lobelia

and maybe 2 small cora white vinca came in 6 pack-I really dont know if that is going to look good or not

3 dahlia

2 zinnia

I have no idea if this is too many plants and if I should leave any of them out. I really wanted to add something soft like grass or some ivy but didn't know which one and thought maybe it was an overkill.

I was told to put in Osmocote flower fertilizer and Sure start, but I hear different things from different nurseries, so I am really confused and don't want my money I spent on these flowers to go down the drain. The soil I purchased said I didn't need to fertilize until 90 days but to use sure start.

If anyone can give me some tips and/or things to avoid, I would be so grateful!! : )

Thank you