Saving the butterfly down on the farm

Go Niche:MOST creatures are at their most attractive when young. Not so the butterfly, whose eggs, larva and pupa most of us could take or leave. But how gorgeous are they in old age? And just how cheering is it to see them flutter up and down their mysterious highways.

Unfortunately however, the little winged wonders are on the decline.

According to Des and Irish Fox, owners of Straffan Butterfly Farm in Co Kildare, the destruction and alteration of habitats are responsible for a marked decline in butterfly populations.

Among the most serious threats are the ploughing and improvement of grassland with fertilizers and herbicides, as well as the abandonment of coppices which are being replaced by high forest, often conifer, which shade out the undergrowth necessary for butterflies.

Happily this is a species we can easily do something about saving. According to the Foxes, anyone with a garden can go a long way towards helping by planting the flowers and food plants that butterflies need to survive.

In late summer, for example, the Peacock and Small Tortoiseshell need large quantities of nectar to build up their strength to survive the coming months of hibernation. Without adequate stores built up they will die before spring.

Among the flowers that are butterfly favourites are buddleia, valerian, lavender, verbena, polyanthus, heliotrope, wallflowers, sweet William, Michaelmas Daisies, aster and phlox.

And to get an idea just how gorgeous, and effective, these flowers are, there is just over a week left to go see Straffan Butterfly Farm for yourself.

The farm, which was established in 1986, is open every summer until the end of August, seven days a week from noon to 5.30pm. Tickets cost €8 for adults and €5 for kids, with a family ticket at €25.

• straffanbutterflyfarm.com