In A Vase On Monday ~ Sugar & Spice.

It's back to base for this week's vase which is a mixture of allotment meets garden. Absence from home has seen everything fast forward, so there were lots of surprises on our return from a beautiful and tranquil French beach, where our camper van has been resident for a short time. This week's vase ingredients are :

• Alchemilla mollis or lady's mantle which despite its prolific self seeding habits I would not be without.
• A few sprigs of golden oregano which grows on the plot.
• Antirrhinum 'Black Prince' - grown from seed and planted both on the plot and in the garden. This was obviously camera shy but one stem is visible on the right hand side of the photo. This has most attractive dark foliage and I'm hoping that it might overwinter.
• Helenium 'Sahin's Early Flowerer' - I like the way that each flower of this plant is slightly different in both pattern and colour. A division plant was kindly given to me year's ago when I admired it in the garden of a cottage that we stayed in when visiting the Malvern Show.
• Allium sphaerocephalon - this is a really reliable easy going bulb which flowers after the larger alliums are done and dusted. Its only drawback is that any seedlings can be mistaken for grass when they first come through the soil. 
• Dahlia - I think that this is 'Arabian Night' but the label has gone west. It came through the winter at the allotment but came home to be potted up and receive some tender loving care before returning back to the allotment for the summer. It has really bulked out this year. 
• Dianthus 'Green Trick' which is fabulously frothy. I fell for this when I saw it in Sarah Raven's catalogue and after being initially disappointed when they sold out I was delighted to get an email to tell me that it was back in stock. I ordered three plug plants which I've planted at the allotment. They are just beginning to come good now and the plan is to try and overwinter some cuttings. I don't think it can be grown from seed but would be pleased to find out that it could.

My vase this week is an old golden syrup tin hence the reference to sugar in the title. It normally houses a houseplant which is currently in intensive care. The spice is a reference to the flower colours and there are also spices round the base of the tin, remnants of a winter potpourri which are about to be jettisoned. Finally a stem of humulus lupulus aureus also known as golden hop has wrapped itself round the tin.

Thanks to Cathy from 'Rambling In The Garden' for offering us a platform to share our vases on a Monday. Such a cheerful and colourful start to the week!