The next few weeks hold the peak of our blooming season for perennials and annuals. Drying garden flowers now lets you enjoy their bloom all year long. There are several ways to dry and preserve flowers.

Hanging is the easiest and best method for preserving many kinds of flowers. The first step is to remove the foliage from the stems. Next, divide the flowers into small bunches. Tie the stems together with string, pipe cleaners, or rubber bands.

Hang bunches upside down in a warm, dark place such as an attic rafter, in a closet from a hanger, or in a dry basement from a clothesline. Vary the height of bunches when hanging; the staggered heights allow better air circulation for the drying process.

The air drying process should take one to two weeks. Flowers such as roses, peonies, tulips, and daffodils should be cut when they are in the bud stage or just opening because they will unfold as they dry. A dehumidifier or box fan can speed drying times.

Silica gel can be obtained from a local garden center, hardware store, or florist. The silica gel absorbs the moisture from the flower within 36 to 48 hours. Choose a container that can be sealed with a lid and that is large enough to hold the silica gel and the flower to be dried. Read and follow the label directions.

Clean, dry, white sand may also be used as a drying agent. Homemade mixtures can be made from ingredients found in most kitchens. Use equal portions of powdered pumice and yellow corn meal or equal portions of borax and yellow corn meal. Other grain cereals such as Wheatena or Cream of Wheat can be substituted for corn meal.

To each quart of either mixture, add 3 tablespoons of non-iodized salt. Fill a container with an inch or two of any of these mixtures and make a slight depression on the surface. Remove the stem from the flower head and place the flower in the depression; then press the mixture in and around the outside of the flower to support it.

Take some of the mixture in your hand and allow it to trickle in a fine stream around each petal. Start with the outer petals and move towards the center. Spread the mixture evenly on all petals, and do not change the shape or position of the flower. Cover the entire flower with the mixture.

Place the open container in a warm, dry place for approximately two weeks. Since the flowers are buried, be careful when removing them at the end of the drying period. After the drying is complete, stems can be made from 20-gauge wire. Push the wire from the bottom up through the center of the flower. Make a hook at the end of the wire and pull back until it is hidden and snug in the flower.

Japanese beetles are one of the exotic insects that have made their way into the United States and wreak havoc due to the lack of a natural predator.

Adult Japanese beetles are between 1/4 and 1/2 inch long. They're easily identified because of their metallic green body with coppery wings. On either side of the wings are five tufts of white hairs.

Like many perennial flowers, Japanese beetles are three to four weeks late this year.Adult Japanese beetles are voracious feeders, especially on sunny days, and seemingly indiscriminate. Like most insects, they have their favorite food but will feed on anything present.

Roses, grape vines, and linden trees seem to be the favorites in Illinois. The Japanese beetles do not discriminate—all types of roses and lindens are fair game, even the supposedly insect- and disease-proof shrub roses. You can find the insects on viburnums, climbing hydrangeas, Shasta daisies, daylilies, porcelain vine, and some fruit trees.

Generally, the beetle feeds on the tender upper leaf tissue between the veins, creating a skeletonized look to the leaf. In many cases, what's left turns brown, giving the plants a scorched appearance.Vegetables tend to be one of the last things the beetles will eat. Most summer Illinois fruits, such as apples, peaches and pears, have a skin that is harder for beetles to digest.

Adults can be controlled by knocking into containers of hot, soapy water. These efforts will probably need to be repeated daily for several weeks.

Do not use petroleum products such as gasoline to knock the beetles into. While gasoline or diesel fuel may work, disposal of the dead beetles and liquid becomes a problem.

Japanese beetle traps have shown effectiveness, though reports indicate that they actually attract more beetles into the yard that may not be caught by the traps. The current recommendation is to not use traps at all or to place them at least a city block or more from your yard.

There are several insecticides that can be used as knockdown sprays. The insecticide carbaryl, often sold as Sevin, provides some of the best control. More than likely, you will have to repeat applications every five to seven days. Other products include acephate (Orthene) and cyfluthrin (Tempo). Imidacloprid (Merit) is often sold as Japanese beetle control, but it is a systemic—it must be applied early in the season, usually early May, to allow the plant to absorb it.

Check the product label to make sure "Japanese Beetle" control is listed. Follow all label directions. Grubs can be controlled with imidacloprid (Merit) or Milky Spore disease, a bacterial toxin that will only have an effect on the Japanese beetle grub.

Above all, maintain the health of the plant. Plants may grow less and have a harder time recovering from stress conditions such as drought, early frosts, diseases, and other insect attacks. Plants will often recover and appear fine next year, living on stored food reserves. But, repeated defoliation in early summer will weaken many trees, shrubs, and vines.

Contact U of I Extension for a Japanese Beetle fact sheet, or download it at http://web.extension.uiuc.edu/regions/sifamily—it's the Tip of the Month in Around the House.

The excessive spring rains made getting out the garden a real challenge. As we move into the early summer, it is still not too late to get in the gardening ball game.

Now is the time to plant certain types of vegetables for harvest in the fall months. In our climate, the months of September through early November are ideal for growing and maturing cool-season vegetables such as broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, snap peas, radishes, and spinach.

The main challenge for extending the season into the fall months is planting during the heat of the summer. For example, early to mid-August is the time to direct seed turnips, lettuce, radishes, collards, chard, carrots, snap peas, and spinach. Depending on your location in the state and the average frost date, the days to harvest of the crop/variety, these can be sown into early September. Keep in mind that these species can tolerate light to moderate frost, and with the help of a protective fabric row cover, they can grow into the late fall. Spinach and Swiss chard can even be over-wintered in the southern third of the state, providing a sweet, early spring harvest.

For best success, work plenty of compost into the seed bed and water regularly to keep young seedlings thriving until cooler weather arrives in September.

In southern Illinois, transplants of broccoli, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, and cabbage can be set out mid-August through the first week of September. Since these crops can have a wide range of maturity times depending on variety, the "days to maturity" factor is important.

Keep in mind as days get shorter and cooler, development can be delayed beyond stated maturity times. Because of this, early to mid-season varieties are often better choices than late varieties for fall planting.

This brings us to the second challenge—finding transplants to set out and sometimes finding seed for these crops. In general, most garden centers have sold their seed stock down by the end of June and will have limited or no plants available for transplanting in late summer. So, it is up to you to grow your own transplants.

Timing is critical. Seeds should be started from late June to mid-July. Most transplants need five to seven weeks to reach appropriate size for survival in an August planting. Longer season varieties need earlier seeding and planting dates.

Seeds can be grown outdoors in cell trays or peat pots, or they can be sown in a temporary seedling bed, to be dug later and moved to their permanent site. The primary disadvantage to cell trays and peat pots is the need for constant, daily watering. Seedling beds are more forgiving.

To start a garden seedling bed, choose a small out-of-the-way area to sow your seeds. Work the soil well, adding compost or other organic matter, and then lightly fertilize. Form a slightly raised bed for easier digging and to promote drainage. Sow seeds of broccoli, cauliflower, kohlrabi, cabbage, and Brussels sprouts densely, about a 1/4 to 1/2 inch apart in the row, with rows 8 to 12 inches apart. Label each seedling section by crop and/or variety sown.

Once the seeds have emerged, immediately dust with Sevin^TM or other approved insecticides to keep insects from feeding on young plants. Two weeks after emergence, apply a soluble fertilizer such as Miracle Gro^TM or Rapid Grow^TM at half rate to promote seedling development and strong roots. Apply every two weeks until the seedlings are ready to be moved to their permanent garden site. Water regularly to prevent stress. When transplanting in the late summer, choose a cloudy day to dig and plant your seedlings.

Water the evening before so that the soil is moist. Gently lift the plants using a shovel or trowel, with the root system intact. Separate and carefully tease the plants apart, keeping as much soil as possible on the roots. Quickly move the individual plants to their permanent site. Water in the transplants, again using soluble fertilizer.

When temperatures are warm, these "bare root" transplants may wilt during the day, but they will come back during the night hours. Usually, it takes seven to ten days for the plants to establish; regular, light watering may be needed until they are established.

An alternative is to sow seeds directly in the permanent garden site and thin later to an appropriate spacing, without moving and re-establishing the seedlings.

For more information, visit the Watch Your Garden Grow website at www.urbanext.uiuc.edu/veggies or pick up the book, Vegetable Gardening in the Midwest, from your local U of I Extension office.

A University of Illinois Extension website providing information about the increasingly popular ornamental grasses is now available in Spanish.

Ornamental Grasses, www.urbanext.uiuc.edu/grasses, is now accessible to Spanish-speakers at www.urbanext.uiuc.edu/grasses_sp/.

The ornamental grasses website focuses on understanding these plants which are increasingly favored by home gardeners.

The site contains sections on basic facts about the plants, how to plant them, care and maintenance, and types of ornamental grasses.

In today's "WOW" gardening, ferns are the quiet,

forgotten, old-faithful plants. Today, flowers and color and architectural embellishments may be the rage. But, ferns are forever and always will be great foliage plants. In fact, foliage is all they have to offer. Basically green and functional, many think ferns don't have the new millennium look. But to quote Allan Armitage, "Maybe it's time to put the brakes on the big, bold and bodacious, and examine the quiet, classic and useful."

In general, ferns tolerate partial sun/shade. If provided with ample soil moisture, some ferns have been known to tolerate full sun. Moist, well-drained garden soil that has been amended with compost or humus is ideal for most ferns. If the site is not right, the plants will show it with scorched foliage. Ferns are low maintenance plants with few pest problems. They are in fact, quiet.

Consider some of these all-time favorites for your garden areas: Matteuccia pennsylvanica, Ostrich Fern offers 4-foot tall, ostrich plume-shaped, dark green fronds. It will grow in sun or shade but does require a moist soil. In swampy areas, it can reach up to 7 feet tall.

Athyrium nipponicum, Japanese Painted Fern does offer "WOW" foliage for our garden. The cultivar 'Pictum' offers us a kaleidoscope of colors on a compact plant. The unique color and texture of the fronds make it an excellent plant for the shade garden. Growing 8 to 12 inches, it offers gray/blue/green foliage on maroon stalks. 'Ghost' is a cross between lady fern and painted fern and offers a unique look.

Athyrium filix-femina, Lady Fern is a vigorous and useful plant. Although it offers only green foliage, this fern is great for difficult shady spots. Reaching 2 to 3 feet tall, it is useful as a background plant and looks good massed along a stream. The cultivar 'Victoriae,' Victoria Fern, is bigger, reaching up to 4 feet in the garden. 'Cristata,' Crested Fern has fronds that are bunched up at the ends.

Adiantum pedatum, Maidenhair fern is a fine-textured fern suited for the woodland setting or shaded rock garden. In evenly moist soil, it reaches heights of 12 to 18 inches. The green horseshoe-arranged foliage is borne on shiny brownish-black stalks.

- Martha Smith, horticulture educator

The summer months are a great time to get children excited about gardening.

Give children a small corner of the garden for a few plants. Keep the area small so it will be easy to manage. Teach them about how plants grow and how to care for their plants. Let them plant, water, weed and pick their vegetables and flowers.

Encourage their success. One fun project to do outside is to make a teepee with garden vegetables. The American Indians gave us beans and corn. Often the Indians planted beans at the base of corn so as the beans grew, the plants could climb up the corn stalks.

Choose a sunny area of the garden for the plant teepee. Take 5 branches, limbs, stakes or dowel rods about 8 feet long, and tie them together with string near one end. Spread the untied ends out to form a teepee. Divide the circle—forming the base of the teepee—in eight sections. Have five divisions containing stakes and nothing in the remaining three. This space will form the entrance to the teepee.

At the base of each stake, plant three pole beans. For some color use Scarlet Runner beans. As the plant grows, there will be a shady place for children to crawl under. Beans can be picked from the outside and the inside. A variation on this is to attach long strings from the ground to the garage eaves and continue this along the length of the wall. What forms will be a lean-to type dwelling.

Indoors, children can watch the process of seeds germinating by growing bean sprouts. Take a glass quart jar and put into it 1/4 cup mung bean seeds. Cover the opening with a piece of clean pantyhose or cheesecloth, and attach it near the top of the jar with a rubber band.

Pour water into the container. Rinse, and pour out. Pour enough water into the jar to cover seeds with an additional 1/2 inch. Place the jar in a dark area at room temperature. Rinse seeds two or three times per day, replacing the water. The sprouts will be light colored since they have been kept in the dark. The bean sprouts will be ready to use in a few days.

Family outings offer both fun and learning. Visit a nearby park or nature center. Look at the different shapes of leaves. Visit a local farmers' market to talk with the growers of food and flowers. While checking out the produce, make a game of spotting how many different parts of the plants we use as food. For example: fruit (cherries), seed (peas), stem (rhubarb), flower buds (broccoli) or roots (carrots).

- David Robson, horticulture educator

Q. I have had two white peonies for years, and they have always bloomed well. The last couple years, they have only had two or three blooms on them.

Do they need to be dug and separated into more plants, or is there something else I should be doing?

A. Peonies do not need to be divided. There are eight reasons peonies fail to bloom. Your problem could be any one or a combination of these situations:

1. Too wet

2. Too dry

3. Too much shade. We sometimes forget that trees and shrubs grow and provide shade. Peonies like full sun.

4. Diseases that reduce the quality of the leaves and cut down the food production for next year; botrytis (peony blight) is one of the most common. Keep the area sanitary by removing foliage at the end of the season (October) and discarding to a compost pile; don't let foliage remain on the ground.

5. Competition from tree and shrub roots.

6. Removing too much foliage or removing foliage too soon. Keep foliage on plants until frost kills it; don't remove it any earlier.

7. Planted too deep. A peony will actually move itself up if planted too deep…and won't move itself down. However, if you added more soil over the years, or provided excess mulch, that might cause a problem.

8. Lack of nutrients; peonies need a nitrogen fertilizer. Just avoid over- fertilizing. Rose food is sufficient.

- Answers provided by David Robson, U of I Extension horticulture educator

Q. I have a hydrangea that is about 10 years old. It is planted on the north side of my house in partial shade. It has always bloomed every year. But this year, it did not bloom. Do you have any advice?

A. It's possible that, one year in 10, the blooms froze off during the winter. The plant may also be in need of a good pruning to stimulate new growth, depending on the type of hydrangea it is. Some of the hydrangeas, such as those that turn purple or blue, produce flower buds in the fall for next year's blooms. If they froze off, for whatever reasons, the plant won't bloom. Keep watering the plant. Fertilize to stimulate growth. Protect it this winter, or keep your fingers crossed that 2008 was an aberration.

- Answers provided by David Robson, U of I Extension horticulture educator

If you are looking for a hardy annual that attracts butterflies, consider lantana. This plant will survive in full sun and bloom continually throughout our hot southern Illinois summers. It grows 4 feet wide and 2 to 3 feet high.

At planting, water thoroughly and then add mulch to control weeds and conserve moisture. Once lantana becomes established, you will only need to water it in extreme drought conditions.

Like all annuals, lantana can be pruned to keep it confined within its space. Lightly deadhead the plant to encourage additional blooming. The flowers will typically change their color as they mature. Flower clusters are a mix of orange, yellow, red, or white. Lantana is classified as poisonous, so caution should be observed. Never throw cuttings into a pasture where animals might eat them. Also, keep children away from the plant's berries.

The newer sterile varieties are best since they produce no berries and will continue with heavy blooms throughout the season. Lantana's bright multi-colored floral display and its ability to tolerate heat make it a favorite among gardeners. And, the added bonus is that butterflies are likely to visit regularly.

- Ed Billingsley, guest columnist