Places to go for week of Dec. 6-12 and beyond

▪ The Fort Worth Botanical Society hosts its Birds’ Christmas Tree event 11 a.m.-noon on Saturday, Dec. 6. It will be at the Fort Worth Botanic Garden, and participants are encouraged to bring homemade, biodegradable bird feeders to hang in the Grove. (Find recipes for these at www.fwbg.org.) Santa and Mrs. Claus will be on hand to greet children. 3220 Botanic Garden Boulevard, Fort Worth, 817-392-5510; www.fwbg.org.

▪ Kids can learn about spiders and their kin — think scorpions — at the Fort Worth Nature Center and Refuge during the “Arachnophilia” class, 2-3 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 6. It’s free with paid admission ($2-$5). Sunday, Dec. 7, join a naturalist on a River Journey Hike, 1-3 p.m. It’s also free with paid admission. And don’t forget to register for the Winter Birding Walk — scheduled for 8-11 a.m. Dec. 13 — with refuge director Suzanne Tuttle. That event involves an easy 3-mile walk along the West Fork of the Trinity River and through an old-growth post oak forest. Binoculars are available. 9601 Fossil Ridge Road, Fort Worth, 817-392-7410; www.fwnaturecenter.org.

▪ Join a River Legacy naturalist for an animal exploration, 2 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 6, at the River Legacy Living Science Center, 703 N.W. Green Oaks Blvd. at Cooper Street. RSVP to 817-860-6752. www.riverlegacy.org.

▪ The Colleyville Woman’s Club’s 30th annual Holiday Home Tour is set for 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 7. Stops include five Colleyville homes decorated for the holidays and Santa’s Sweet Stop at Taylor Renovations, 1101 Cheek Sparger Road, sponsored by Whole Foods. For advance tickets, $20, call 817-358-1805 or visit www.c-w-c.org. Day-of tickets will be $25.

▪ Dressed in Holiday Style, sponsored by Historic Fort Worth Inc., will feature period fashions created by Mary Kathryn Anderson at Thistle Hill. The exhibit will be the focus of holiday tours at the historic home, Wednesday-Sunday, Dec. 10-21. Tours are Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays at 11 a.m., noon, 1 and 2 p.m. and on Sundays (Dec. 7 and Dec. 21), at 1, 2 and 3 p.m. www.historicfort worth.org. Admission is $15, $7.50 for children under 12. For more information, email suzy_coleman@historic fortworth.org.

▪ Hannah Asbaugh, graduate assistant at Stephen F. Austin University, will talk about the snowy plover at a meeting of the Fort Worth Audubon Society at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 11. The meeting is in Room 114 (lower level) of the UNT Health Science Center, 3500 Camp Bowie Blvd. Prior to the talk, a bird ID session is scheduled for 6:50 p.m. For more information, visit www.fwas.org.

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

Mark your calendar …

▪ For the Holidays at the Hearth celebration, including photos with Saint Nicholas, 1-4 p.m. Dec. 13 at Log Cabin Village. 2100 Log Cabin Village Lane, Fort Worth. Admission $4.50-$5, plus a $2 craft fee. 817-392-881; www.logcabinvillage.org.

▪ For Texas A&M AgriLife Extension’s Earth-Kind modular horticulture and Master Gardener classes, held on occasional Saturdays through December. The classes, covering botany, horticulture, plant propagation and more, will be in various locations in Fort Worth and other North Texas cities. Registration is recommended. For information, call 817-884-1944 and ask for Steve Chaney, or visit http://tarrantmg.org for the schedule of classes.

▪ For free, informal tours at the Fort Worth Botanic Garden by members of the Trial Garden Master Gardener Project. A guided tour of the trial garden begins at 9 a.m. on the second Thursday of the month, weather permitting. Look for a sign at the garden and wait for the tour guide. To check availability, call the Botanic Garden’s main desk at 817-871-7686.

This story was originally published December 5, 2014 at 6:00 AM with the headline "Places to go for week of Dec. 6-12 and beyond."