You Can't see it in this picture but these ballisters have a vine texture on them which will make them pretty interesting. I purchased these from Kings Architectural metals, a great supplier of all things metal.
Prior to installation I wet the steel rods and applied a rust activator. A perfect choice for a finish in this application. No matter what you do, steel outide will rust so why fight it.
I'll post some pictures of the finished project when it's day light so you can see the entire view, the results came out better than I'd imagined.