Nature-friendly places to go during the week of April 22-28

▪ The Spring Festival in the Japanese Garden will be 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday and 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Sunday inside the Fort Worth Botanic Garden. Admission is $8 adults, $4 ages 4-12, children under 3 admitted free. Activities include taiko drummers, dancers, sword and karate demonstrations, storytellers, origami and more activities, most if not all kid-friendly. The Fort Worth Botanic Garden is at 3220 Botanic Garden Blvd. 817-871-7685 or 817-392-5510; fwbg.org.

▪ A 30-minute birding ID class will begin at 8 a.m. Saturday in Kennedale, followed by a 90-minute bird walk at 8:30 a.m. at the Southwest Nature Preserve. The workshop will be at Kennedale City Hall Conference Room, 405 Municipal Drive, Kennedale. Master birder Walt Berk will lead the bird walk at the preserve, 5201 Bowman Springs Road, Arlington.

▪ River Legacy’s 28th annual Cardboard Boat Regatta will be 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday at Six Flags Hurricane Harbor, 1800 E. Lamar Blvd., Arlington. Build a boat or watch teams succeed, or sink and swim. Tickets are $8 at Hurricane Harbor. 817-860-6752; www.riverlegacy.org

▪ Join weekly guided spring nature hikes at 9 a.m. Saturdays during the month of April at the Bob Jones Nature Center. The hikes are $5 per person. The nature center is at 355 Bob Jones Road, Southlake. 817-491-6333; bjnc.org

▪ Do you know what plants will attract hummingbirds and butterflies to your garden? Learn them all at a free class at 10:15 a.m. Saturday at area Calloway’s locations. www.calloways.com

▪ Earth Day activities at the Fort Worth Nature Center and Refuge include a canoe tour at 9 a.m. Saturday, a nature hike at 10 a.m. and seed ball making activity at 1:30 p.m. Most activities are $5 plus $2-$5 admission.

Register for a kayak tour of the West Fork of the Trinity River at 9 a.m. Sunday. Kayaks, paddles and life jackets will be provided. It’s $20 plus admission. At 7:30 p.m. Thursday, there will be a nature center “after hours” program. It’s $10. Call to register.

The refuge is at 9601 Fossil Ridge Road, Fort Worth. 817-392-7410; www.fwnaturecenter.org.

▪ Learn about container gardens at the meeting of the Moonlight African Violet and Gesneriad Society at 7 p.m. Thursday, April 27 in the Azalea Room of the Deborah Beggs Moncrief Garden Center, Fort Worth Botanic Garden, 3220 Botanic Garden Blvd. For more information, call club President Barb Kelly, 817-656-4613.

▪ Ruth Kinler of Redenta’s Garden will share how to keep plants blooming at the meeting of the Arlington Organic Garden Club at 7:30 p.m. Thursday in the Bob Duncan Center, 2800 S. Center St., Arlington. Social time begins at 7. For more information, call Bob Ressl at 817-706-6677.

▪ Get your gardening questions answered with a call to the Tarrant County Master Gardener Association help desk, 817-884-1944. Hours are 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Monday-Friday.

▪ Johnson County master gardeners also answer gardening questions and give advice 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Fridays. Call the Johnson County Extension Office at 817-556-6370 and ask to speak to a master gardener.

Mark your calendar ...

▪ For the Arlington Garden Club’s Fielder Plant Festival, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. April 29. Plant vendors, art vendors, speakers and demonstrations. It’s at the Fielder House Museum, 1616 W. Abram St., Arlington. Facebook: Arlington Garden Club

▪ For landscape designer Lucy Harrell’s free seminar on drought-tolerant, heat-loving plants at 1 p.m. April 29 at Marshall Grain, 3525 William D. Tate Ave. www.marshallgrain.com/events

This story was originally published April 20, 2017 at 12:15 PM with the headline "Nature-friendly places to go during the week of April 22-28."