Over the years, you have told us that some of your favorite Smart Talk shows are the ones that focus on spring time gardening and planting. And why not? The program reminds everyone that the long winter is behind us, spring and warmer weather are here and you can get a few great tips too.

Every year is unique. March and most of April were warmer than usual so the early blooming flowers and trees got a head start -- even when there was one final snow. But recently, there's been a lot of rain and not much sunshine so will it have any impact in the long run?

Tuesday's Smart Talk features Erica Jo Shaffer, the nursery manager at Highland Gardens in Camp Hill who will share her knowledge and expertise on a variety of questions.

Yes, Erica talks about the virtues of dandelions in the yard but she also has many tips to pass along when it comes to flowers, gardens, vegetables, trees and grass.

So what questions do you have? Call 1-800-729-7532 between 9 and 10 a.m. Tuesday.

Also, send photographs or what you've grown to WITF's Facebook page so everyone can enjoy them!

There was a time when the fish species shad swam from the Chesapeake Bay into and up the Susquehanna River to spawn. Shad was a source of food for millions of people.

But then just before the mid-1850s dams were built across the river and that kept the shad from migrating. In the 20th Century, the Conowingo Dam just south of Pennsylvania in Maryland was perhaps the biggest barrier. Over the years fish lifts and trucking shad upstream were used with mixed success. Now there is a new agreement to restore shad to the Susquehanna.

We'll learn more about it on Thursday's Smart Talk from John Arway, Executive Director of the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission and Josh Trininewski, a biologist with the PA Fish and Boat Commission who is in charge of shad restoration efforts.

Also, the Pennsylvania State Archives has outgrown its current location next to the State Museum in Harrisburg. So, now plans have been set in motion to build a new $24 million facility just a few blocks away.

The Archives houses some of the state's most significant and oldest documents and images. There are a few that are over 300 years old.

The new building will provide more space to store the archives and also be more environmentally conducive for storage.

Pennsylvania State Archivist and Director of the Archives David Carmichael appears on Thursday's program.

The long-awaited Pennsylvania Primary Election is now history and there weren't many surprises.

Franklin and Marshall College political analyst and pollster Dr. G. Terry Madonna appears on Smart Talk with analysis of the results and a look ahead to the November election.

Donald Trump was the choice of a sizable margin of Republican voters and the same can be said for Hillary Clinton on the Democratic side. With their victories in Pennsylvania and several other states Tuesday, the road to their parties' nominations seems more clear. So how does that race shape up?

Former DEP Secretary Katie McGinty rode a wave of last-minute momentum to victory in the Democratic U.S. Senate contest and will now face Republican incumbent Sen. Pat Toomey this fall.

Lloyd Smucker emerged as the winner in the 16th Congressional District and incumbent Republican Bill Shuster narrowly beat back a challenge in the 9th Congressional District.

Pennsylvania Attorney General Kathleen Kane has been in the news as much as anyone in the last two years and often not in a positive light. Republican John Rafferty and Democrat Josh Shapiro -- both from Montgomery County -- won their primaries yesterday and compete to succeed Kane.

Three area State Senate seats saw competition. Scott Martin defeated two other Republicans in Lancaster County's 13th District; Democratic incumbent Sen. Rob Teplitz goes against Republican John DiSanto this fall, and Mike Regan was the winner in the hotly contested 31st District in Cumberland and York Counties.

York was the nation's first capital and the first place where the words "United States of America" were used. So, it is only fitting that on Pennsylvania's primary election day, the Smart Talk Road Trip takes us to York.

The live broadcast comes from another historic site -- York's Central Market.

The discussion on Tuesday's program is not all about the primary, although there will some of that.

York Mayor Kim Bracey joins us as well as York Daily Record Editorial Page Editor Scott Fisher.

Much of the conversation centers on the challenges facing cities like York that often are limited in the way they can generate revenue, must find ways to improve the performance of their schools and don't know how they're going to pay for a mounting pension debt.

Another issue York and other cities have had to deal with is losing people to the suburbs. That has slowly turned around for some cities as more young people have expressed a willingness to live in cities where they can walk to stores, restaurants and bars and enjoy the entertainment.

The Daily Record has taken the question a step further -- bringing York to the suburbs. It was a topic broached last week at a town hall meeting in Manchester.

Scott Fisher has written about it and discusses it on Smart Talk.

It's estimated that one in five children between the ages of 6 and 17 have some type of mental disorder. Anxiety disorder is the most prevalent but behavioral disruption disorders like ADHD are also widespread.

It's also estimated that 79% of those kids do not receive any mental health care.

What can be done to ensure these young people get the treatment they need and what kind of treatment is that?

That's what the discussion focuses on during Monday's Smart Talk.

Dr. Ehsan Syed, who specilizes in child and adolescent psychiatry with the Pennsylvania Psychiatric Institute, is on the program.

Also, the day before the Pennsylvania primary, we get a last minute update from political analyst and pollster Dr. G. Terry Madonna of Franklin and Marshall College.

Smart Talk has had conversations with the Democrats running for the U.S. Senate this week ahead of next Tuesday's primary election.

Friday, John Fetterman joins us to discuss his views on the issues and why he feels he is the best candidate to face Republican incumbent U.S. Senator Pat Toomey in November.

Fetterman is a supporter of presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders and has many of the same opinions.

Also, April 25 is National Parental Alienation Awareness Day.

Parental alienation occurs when one parent or family member manipulates a child into disliking their other parent or family members. Some say it is psychological abuse that permanently affects the child and the rejected family member. In fact, there are those in the mental health community that call it Parent Al;ienation Syndrome. However, despite support from many mental health professionals, both the American Psychiatric Association and the American Psychological Association have rejected parental alienation syndrome.

It's the topic of Friday's Smart Talk.

Appearing on the program are Dr. Craig Childress, a psychologist who is considered one the nation's experts of parent alienation, Pam Moran, a Cumberland County social worker and psychotherapist and Suzanne Spencer, an active member of the Pennsylvania Chapter of the Parental Alienation Awareness Organization who was exposed to alienating behaviors as a child, parent and grandparent.

More women are mounting political campaigns than ever before in 2016.

Yet the number of women in elected office falls far below how many men who hold elected positions in both Pennsylvania and the nation..

The Pennsylvania Center for Women and Politics states that just 18 percent of Pennsylvania's General Assembly is female. Nationally, the numbers are similar.

There could be changes on the way though. More than 265 women are candidates nationwide this year, including Hillary Clinton in the Democratic presidential contest and Democrat Katie McGinty, who is running for the U.S. Senate in Pennsylvania.

Two Dickinson College political science professors, Drs. Sarah Niebler and Kathleen Marchetti appear on Wednesday's Smart Talk to discuss women and politics.

With less than a week before Pennsylvania primary elections, Smart Talk is having conversations with all three of the Democrats running in the primary for the United States Senate. The winner of next week's election will face incumbent Republican Pat Toomey.

Joining us on Wednesday's Smart Talk is former U.S. Navy Admiral and U.S. Congressman Joe Sestak.

Pennsylvania's primary election is only a week away. The presidential campaigns have been getting most of the attention but voters will choose nominees for several important officies, including the U.S. Senate.

There are three Democrats competing to face incumbent Republican Pat Toomey in November. All three will be on Smart Talk this week.

Katie McGinty joins us on Tuesday's program.

Pam Tripaldi's father received a diagnosis of Alzheimer disease in 2007. Tripaldi served as her father's primary caregiver for the final four years of his life, during which he received care at several different hospitals. During these hospitalizations, she encountered near-miss patient safety events in which staff did not recognize her father's dementia.

Tripaldi contacted the Pennsylvania Patient Safety Authority in 2015 and recounted examples of situations in which hospital staff either obtained inaccurate information from her father or failed to provide the assistance necessary to support her father in activities of daily living, such as feeding himself.

The Authority investigated and issued an analysis of whether health care providers not recognizing or knowing a patient they're treating has been diagnosed with dementia.

Appearing on Tuesday's program is Michelle Feil, the Senior Patient Safety Analyst with the Pennsylvania Patient Safety Authority.

The final political debate of State Senate candidates before Pennsylvania's April 26 primary election is scheduled for Monday's Smart Talk.

Appearing on the program are the three Republicans running for State Senate in the 13th District, which is located in Lancaster County.

The candidates are Ethan Demme, Scott Martin and Neal Rice.

The trio is competing to replace Sen. Lloyd Smucker, who is running for Congress.

Among the issues to discuss are education, jobs, taxes and experience. In fact, in previous debates, government experience or being an "outsider" has been one of the biggest areas of disagreement.

The debate follows Smart Talk's normal conversational format and allows the candidates to address one another. There are no phone calls from listeners during the program.

The Federal Trade Commission is challenging the proposed merger between two of Central Pennsylvania's largest healthcare providers -- Penn State Health and Pinnacle Health.

The FTC is concerned that the deal may have a negative impact on consumers.

Testimony was heard in federal court this week.

WITF's Ben Allen was in the courtroom and appears on Friday's program to describe what he heard.

A bill that would make medical marijuana legal in Pennsylvania is on its way to Gov. Tom Wolf's desk for his signature. One of the prime sponsors, Democratic Sen. Daylin Leach, talks about the bill.

At risk young people and poetry - what do the two have to do with one another? More than you may expect in the city of Lancaster. The Mix at Arbor Place is a youth development center in Lancaster that offers an innovative spoken word poetry program and also utilizes hip hop to encourage students to express themselves, promote literacy and improve confidence.

We'll learn more about the program and how it works on Friday's Smart Talk.

Joining us are Jeremy Raff, Assistant Executive Director at The Mix at Arbor Place, Ty Gant, Program Associate at The Mix at Arbor Place and the co-winners of the Lancaster City Youth Poet Laureate program Natalia Delgado and Thea Buckwalter.