Refurbishing metal planters

I had picked a couple of these wall-mount planters for free quite a while ago ~ probably 6 or more months ago?!?  I was thinking about hanging them by the front window. And then I thought no, I'm going to put them up by the window in the back living room.  And then after seeing the real condition of what's left of the metal, I decided to just keep them on the side of the house.

Here they are... oh boy, looks like I have my work cut out for me:

First of, it's time to take out all the soil and moss:

This metal is so rusty and some of it has even disappeared!

Okay, so here is the plan.  I'm going to use the old plastic downspout - cut it into half, and hopefully it will hold the soil and water that is neccesary to keep the plants alive.  I don't have a sprinkler system in this area:

But first, time to scrub the old rust down and spray paint.  I probably could have picked the matching green that I used on the metal chairs in the front.  However, I've already had Bob pick up some black spray paint a long time ago.  Next time I'll have to buy some non-glossy ones so the flaws are not as obvious:

Looking better already!

Here's the other one for a comparison.  It's amazing what a little bit of spray paint can do:

And then,... ta da!!!

Okay, not looking like much right now.  Hopefully these plants that I've picked from the garden will survive and blossom a little bit more to fill the empty gaps.  Otherwise there's always the trip to the store to pick up more succulents.  I just can't get myself to buy anymore because we have so much of it in the garden!  But I'm getting tired of the same looking ones.  Ha ha!