I was thinking maybe a rain barrel. It might look nice n serve a purpose. Good idea?

I have a strip of grass along side my driveway that the water just sits. The downspout is also there. Is there any soil amendments to help with this? My soil is mostly clay. The funny thing is the grass on that side is a lighter shade of green.

We planted primrose in our flower bx's last month but now they are starting to wither and since we been getting a lot of rain i think we have some type of fungus. Anyway we are thinking of planting something new. We have planted petunia's and pansies in the past but were thinking of maybe something ...