Dome from Home provides a special experience of glamping with wildflowers throughout the year.
The owners, Liz and Duncan, are supported by expert gardeners “Maggie Anne Gardening”. Together, they work throughout the year to ensure you enjoy the wildflowers surrounding Dome from Home. The paddock is scythed in Spring & Autumn to reduce grasses which compete with the wildflowers. It is is also planted with yellow rattle (Rhinanthus minor), a natural semi parasite of grasses which flowers from May to September. Yellow Rattle is often referred to as the “meadow maker” due to its ability to help wild flowers compete with grasses, for space and nutrients.
A few of our wildflowers which appear during the glamping season are described below.
April fritillary at Dome from Home
In the late autumn and early spring areas surrounding the domes form a wet meadow. This provides an ideal environment for the Snakehead Fritillary (Fritillaria meleagris). The fritillary’s distinctive flower is seen throughout April and May. They look spectacular.
May - Ragged Robin
In May the Ragged-Robin (Lychnis flos-cuculi) comes into flower, with petals that look as if they have been shredded. It is believed that the buds of the Ragged Robin plant were used as “Batchelor’s buttons” by girls in the 16th century. The buds would be picked and named after young boys of a village. The first to open would identify either the boy to marry, or the one who wanted to marry the girl.
June’s spectacle of yellow flag
The Yellow Flag Iris (Iris pseudacorus) flowers from June to August. It is a favourite of bees during this time of the year when there are fewer flowers around for pollination. Bee keepers refer to this month as the “June gap”, so we are fortunate to have this spectacular blaze of yellow near our domes.
July daisies in the lawns
The paths at Dome from Home are mowed, usually on Tuesday afternoons. We keep the mow height high to allow the daisies (Bellis perennis) to flower.
Although the daisies appear earlier, it is said that when you to find a patch of seven daisies that you can stand on at once “summer has come”.
They provide some great camouflage for our Westies too!
August with Purple Loosestrife
Purple loosestrife (Lythrum salicria) has dense spirals of reddish-purple flowers, of three different kinds on each plant, to encourage the bees and pollinators to visit other plants and prevent self-pollination. They add a splash of colour around the pond.
September for Sunflowers
Whilst not strictly a wildflower, sunflowers (Helianthus annuus) are found in the fields around Dome from Home, providing a great source of winter bird food and another spectacular sight, as our season draws to a close.
October cooler days to scythe
As October arrives and the days become cooler we will scythe the paddock, preparing for another year to enjoying glamping in the UK at Dome from Home.
You can find more images of the wildflowers at Dome from Home on the Gallery page of our website
With thanks to Maggie Anne Gardeners, Scythe Cymru.
Wildflower anecdotes from “Wildflowers of Britain and Ireland” by Rae Spencer-Jones and Sarah Cuttle, and the Reader’s Digest “Field guide to the wild flowers of Britain”
