By gardening expert, TV/radio host, author & columnist Melinda Myers

As gardeners well know, there are plenty of challenges our landscapes will face throughout the growing season. Heat, drought, pests and disease can all take their toll on our plants, causing wilting, brown leaves, damaged plants and even plant death.  Fortunately, gardeners now have an exciting new organic tool for growing healthy, productive, and beautiful landscapes all season long.

Researchers have discovered that when some plants are stressed they produce certain molecules that help them better tolerate environmental stresses as well as insect and disease attacks. They isolated the molecules and applied them to other plants. This improved the treated plants' own natural defenses, much like immunizations do for us.

All natural plant strengtheners, like JAZ Spray, were developed as a result of these findings. Plant strengtheners immunize plants against environmental stresses such as heat and drought, while building their defenses against insects and diseases.

They are not fertilizers that provide nutrients, nor are they pesticides that kill the insects and disease organisms. This new tool can help gardeners deal with gardening challenges that are beyond their control.  By using a plant strengthener you are proactively boosting a plant's immune system before environmental stresses hit and ultimately helping it thrive as it faces serious challenges throughout the season.

Because these natural plant-derived products improve plant health and resilience by strengthening their resistance to plant stressors, including heat, drought, over-watering, insects and disease, they've become a valuable and must-have tool for both beginning and experienced gardeners especially given the variable and unpredictable weather patterns we've experienced in recent years.

They can also increase gardening success when busy schedules, vacations or lack of experience get in the way of providing ideal care.

Begin treating established plants from the start of the season to help build their natural defenses. Treated plants will be more robust, suffer less damage, and recovery more quickly from stress. Plant strengtheners are also effective when applied at the first sign of stress or when moving plants indoors for winter, since the lower light and lower humidity conditions can be very stressful on these plants.

Prepare your plants for the growing season by arming yourself with this exciting new line of organic products that are safe for pets, kids and the environment.

And always remember that proper soil preparation, plant selection, and care are also critical in growing beautiful, productive and healthy plants.  Monitor your plants' health throughout the growing season.  Uncovering problems early may be the difference between a little clean up and the need to treat.  And, if treatment is needed, look for the most eco-friendly products available.

Investing a bit of time and energy now to lay the foundation for a healthy and productive landscape will surely pay off with low maintenance, beautiful gardens for years to come.

For more gardening tips visit www.melindamyers.com.

Nationally known gardening expert, TV/radio host, author & columnist Melinda Myers has more than 30 years of horticulture experience and has written over 20 gardening books, including Can't Miss Small Space Gardening , Month-by-Month Gardening in Wisconsin and The Garden Book for Wisconsin. She hosts the nationally syndicated Melinda's Garden Moment segments which air on over 110 TV and radio stations throughout the U.S. and Canada. She is a columnist and contributing editor for Birds & Blooms magazine and writes the twice monthly "Gardeners' Questions" newspaper column. Melinda also has a column in Gardening How-to magazine.  Melinda hosted "The Plant Doctor" radio program for over 20 years as well as seven seasons of Great Lakes Gardener on PBS. She has written articles for Better Homes and Gardens and Fine Gardening and was a columnist and contributing editor for Backyard Living magazine.  Melinda has a master's degree in horticulture, is a certified arborist and was a horticulture instructor with tenure.  Her web site is www.melindamyers.com

A recent rash of news stories highlights the positive in society's youngest members: "Child Saves Kids from Bus Crash;" "Child Saves His Brother from Possible Abduction;" "Child Saves Family from House Fire."

But all too often, the news involving children indicates a dangerous lack of morality: 7- and 8-year-olds stealing cars; a 9-year-old's recent shooting of a school classmate; a 12-year-old charged with armed robbery. A particularly bad one nearly 20 years ago shocked sisters Debbie Burns and Patty Cockrell. Two 10-year-old truants abducted a toddler in England, tortured the little boy and beat him to death.

It prompted the women to begin work on Tukie Tales: A New Beginning for a Better Tomorrow (www.tukietales.com), a series of five children's books designed to help parents teach young children important values.

"There is something especially senseless in reading about small children committing sadistic crimes," Burns says. "We wanted to be part of a 'positive push' in the right direction."

The younger the child, the more impressionable they are, she says. We wanted to help busy parents scrambling to make ends meet teach children empathy, compassion, environmental awareness and other values.

"I don't think parents are bad," she says. "But with all the economic worries, the job losses and home foreclosures, many are focused on working and worrying. It's hard to also be thinking, 'What value will I teach my child today?' "

Burns and Cockrell offer tips for parents to help positively shape children:

• Promote a love for nature: Are your kids outdoors much? Parents who are busying shuttling their sons and daughters from one building to another may overlook the benefits of the great outdoors. Wilderness, however, has a therapeutic effect on indoor dwellers. Spending time in nature also helps children learn about their place in the world and the value of all the life that shares space with us.

• Show the value of teamwork: Working together toward a common goal doesn't always come naturally to children - or adults. Many youngsters learn teamwork through sports, which is good but almost always includes a competitive element. It's important for children to experience the added benefits of creating, problem-solving and getting chores done as a team. Parents should look for opportunities to point out their children's great teamwork.

• Make sure they appreciate safety: No good parent wants to unnecessarily frighten their children, but carelessness leads to bad habits, injuries and opportunities for others to do them harm. The best medicine for any problem is prevention. Remember: Don't take for granted that your young child knows what's safe and what's not. Some years ago, someone taught you that stoves can burn your hand - even though you can't remember who or when it was.

• Build their confidence with at least one skill: Remember what it's like to be 4 years old? Very young children come into this world with no previous experience, which means their brains are hungry for know-how. Knowledge and skills to a child are like water for a thirsty man in the desert.

• Kindness counts: It is one thing to teach kids the old idiom that one catches more flies with honey than with vinegar. But children should also know that people who make kindness a habit tend to be happier; there is an inherent joy in helping others.

"I understand parents are busy earning a living to support their children," Cockrell says. "But who you raise in the process makes all the difference to the future world."

About Debbie Burns & Patty Cockrell

Burns and Cockrell are sisters and best friends. They were determined to instill honest and wholesome values in their children after establishing their families. Deeply affected by the bad news of the world, they decided to promote a better experience for children. The "Tukie Tales" series is written with compassion and love for all of the world's children in the hope of making a positive difference.

By: Gordon Filepas

As a father, you understand the incredible importance of keeping your family healthy, happy, lean and long-lived as easily and inexpensively as possible.   As the president of our country, you understand the importance of educating U.S. citizens about how to do the same.

My concern then is, as the most prominent role model in the land, why do you smoke cigarettes?  Why do you eat so many fatty foods, as physicians have publicly noted?  Why are there so many campaign tour photos of you eating unhealthy foods?  At the same time, your wife is campaigning to end childhood obesity.  Doesn't this send a mixed message to most everyone in America?  This at a time when America's disease, obesity and health insurance rates are skyrocketing, with no end in sight?

Why does America spend only 4% percent of its health-care budget on prevention and education yet over 75 percent on disease treatment? Is the goal to make Americans authentically healthy, or to make a few industries wealthier? These are questions my own children have asked me around the dinner table, so now I'm asking you Mr. President.

From all the research I just completed, I now know that Americans aren't getting fatter and sicker because they're lazy; they're getting fatter and sicker because of the steady stream of misinformation that is fed to them and that defies common sense. They're confused about the true biological causes of poor health and disease.  You can understand then why, to the American public, it almost appears that governmental health policies are designed to cultivate disease and illness, purely for profit, rather than to authentically protect the health of American citizens.

The signs are everywhere. A recent example is the fact that food manufacturers don't have to label GMO (genetically modified organisms) foods in America, when other countries do.  Why?  People certainly deserve to know what's in their food!  A country as a whole is only as strong as the health of its individuals.

As a concerned father, I wanted to ask you these questions. Because, when I give my children a kiss or a hug or tell them I love them each day, I want only the best for them.  As a father, I know you want the same for your own children.   And, every other parent in our country wants the same for their own children.  What does the future hold for our children if America doesn't change its ways right now and do what it needs to do to end its disease and obesity epidemics?

As a concerned American citizen, I know that you have the power to make America healthier, leaner, fitter and stronger.  You can also choose to do nothing and give into the various lobbying interests purely for their profit and political purposes, while the citizens of our country continue to get sicker, fatter and weaker, thereby making America even less competitive in the world.

The long and short of it is, Mr. President, the choice really is yours. You are the ultimate role model for America.  The buck starts and stops with you.

Whoever becomes the next President in the upcoming election, I wonder what the parents on their staff and throughout all the other influential government offices would wish for their own children's future: profit or health? Frankly, it really is easy to have both if America's health-care system were to be redesigned properly and if all Americans were taught to give their bodies what they need biologically in the first place to prevent disease and illness.  Providing everyone with health insurance is a noble proposition but it does nothing to prevent or end even a single disease state.

Wouldn't it be great to be remembered as the president who solved America's health and obesity problems, and made America the longest-lived country in the world with among the lowest healthcare costs?

The choice is yours.

About Gordon Filepas

Gordon Filepas spent 20 years researching Lean And Healthy To 100, (www.adviceformychildren.com), interviewing physicians, attending seminars, and reading medical journals and other health-related literature. He is the founder of TGM Partners, a consulting and investment firm. Filepas says he was motivated to learn more about the specific requirements for optimal health following the deaths of his father and brother from cancer within three years of each other. He hopes to ensure the good health of his family, including his wife of 25 years and three sons.

10 Winners Announced at White House Youth Summit, Featured in Jon Bon Jovi Video

June 4, 2012 (Washington, DC) - Jasmine Babers of Rock Island, IL, is a winner of the SparkOpportunity Challenge, an innovative "crowdsourcing" competition that asked young people to share their ideas on how to create local jobs and opportunities for youth. Babers, 16, won for Love, GIRLS Magazine, which teaches teenage girls about work skills, marketing, sales, writing, and photography.

The ten winners, all between the ages of 15 and 35, were announced at the White House Youth Summit and in a video featuring Jon Bon Jovi, musician and member of the youth-focused White House Council for Community Solutions. The winners receive an iPad, start-up grants of $1,500, and mentoring from recognized business and civic leaders to help make their ideas a reality.

At a time when more than 6.7 million young people are unemployed and not in school, Jon Bon Jovi traveled the country talking to thousands of young people who had practical, yet inventive ideas to help their struggling peers. Again and again, they asked how they could share their solutions and where they could be heard.

The Challenge created an opportunity for youth to turn their ideas into concrete solutions and generate support through their social networks. One hundred and thirty-five people from across the country submitted ideas on topics ranging from making higher education more affordable to helping autistic youth find meaningful employment. More than 10,000 votes were cast in just 10 days.

To all who entered, Jon Bon Jovi said, "Your ideas are promising and inspiring solutions to the employment crisis for young people."

The Challenge was developed by SparkAction and The Youth Leadership Institute in partnership with 35 leading youth organizations across the country.

The organizers developed the Challenge in support of the White House Council for Community Solutions' call for the nation to do more to reconnect young people with the education, training and comprehensive social supports that are critical for long-term employment and lifelong economic independence.

Visit www.sparkopportunity.org to see Jon Bon Jovi announce the winners on video and for more detailed information on the winning ideas.


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ABOUT THE PARTNERSHIP

The SparkOpportunity Challenge is led by three organizations:

The Forum for Youth Investment is a nonprofit, nonpartisan "action tank" dedicated to helping communities and the nation make sure all young people are Ready by 21®: ready for college, work and life. It was founded by Karen Pittman, a nationally recognized pioneer of the field of youth development in the United States.

SparkAction, which developed the Challenge idea and platform, is a collaborative journalism and advocacy website to mobilize action by and for children and youth. Its stories and action tools help concerned young people and adults get informed and get involved across the full range of issues affecting children, youth and families.

The Youth Leadership Institute has been an innovative leader in field of youth development for over 20 years, working to build communities that invest in youth and support young people in their work for effective community change. YLI serves youth and communities through advocacy, training and consulting services, and through community-based programs.