The steps up to my front door have pots at either side- three steps so six pots in total. There is something uniquely cheering about arriving home (or going out first thing in the morning) and seeing or smelling flowers. In the coldest months, it's especially important for my mental health to have some colour near the house. It's a lovely reminder that the cold won't last for ever, and the brighter weather will return.
I layer bulbs in the pots, so in Spring there are iris reticulata, dwarf daffodils, muscari, anemones, tulips and hyacinths. There are also several large pots of just hyacinths either side of the steps, mostly for the scent.
Later on, these pots will be replaced with ones containing gladioli, trailing nasturtium, dahlias, marigolds or whatever else I have to hand. In the Winter, I have polyanthus, hellebores, bellis perennis and pansies.
The top step used to have a pair of box balls on it, but it's very windy here and they kept getting blown off, so they are now much happier in a border.