Blimey, that looks a bit difficult to use as a planter, and I'm wondering if its meant to be hung up or whether it has a levelled off bit for resting on the ground.

About the safest and least expensive thing I can think of is lobelia mixed (string of pearls Lobelia). I say this because the difficulty of keeping it watered might mean anything you plant in it won't do well, so trying Lobelia in it first won't cost too much if it fails. I think you'll need at least 12 plants, so that'd be one complete tray of box bedding rather than half boxes, but its hard to be definite because I don't know how large it is. You'll obviously need to wait till mid May to do this with any type of bedding plant though.

You'd need to put soil in the base first, and when you get to the first hole or gap, push the plug of roots into it (you might need two or more plants to fill in those gaps), packing the compost round them and raising the level of soil in the container as you go, repeating this process till you're planting into the top. It's probably also wise to incorporate some water retaining gel crystals into the compost mix too, given the obvious difficulty with watering.

alternatively, just leave it standing in the garden somewhere as an ornamental piece....without plants... and maybe put outdoor led lights in it for winter...

I think I'd go with Bamboo's second suggestion and see this as a garden ornament not a planter...

You might place it on a pedistal in your garden and put some bird seed in it.

it might be an idea to line the bottom section with water retentive matting. If the compost were to dry out completely it would be difficult to wet it again because water would run out of the holes.

Or perhaps it might look nice planted up with sedums or similar.

Thank you so much for your response

There's no way this is a planter ! no matter what flowers you put in they would die, there's too many holes in it. Just use as decoration in your garden, and let your plants live !

I like that!!!!! I would probably leave it as an ornamental item but it could be interesting to plant it up with sedums/ alpines - you'll see examples of herb pots planted up that way.

Is it cast iron?

If it is cast iron all the more reason not to plant up...

If not a bird feeder, place a tea candle in it.

Bird feeder Loosestrife? The seed would be everywhere but in the container!

Not to fill the thing to the brim but just below the lower cutouts after plugging up the hole on the bottom. Thought it would look interesting watching finches etc jumping in and out of the cutouts. It can be placed on a concrete pedistal of the sort bird baths are placed on and it doesn't take much effort to refill it every or every other day.

Hum... can't see many birds wanting to feed from it, and the ones that do are likely to be starlings and blackbirds who will see easy pickings. It is a garden ornament pure and simple.

So say I and so say you

Its whatever you want it to be...

Loose strife in the UK at least passerines need somewhere with shelter and cover nearly to feed. This means they will not come down to somewhere exposed, at least in my experience...

It would be OK to site it near a large shrub though - they like somewhere to retreat to in hurry if need be.

Well,you learn something every day - I had no idea what 'passerine' meant and had to look it up....

I'd have a go at planting it - if that didn't work, then I'd use it simply as an ornament outdoors...

ah well Bamboo we all need to learn something new each day :)

For sure - but will I remember any of it as time goes by...;-))