EDITOR'S NOTE: This event has been postponed until March 4 due to a water main break which led to significant flooding in the parking lot and along pathways of the Japanese Garden in the Washington Park Arboretum.

Recent springlike weather has us thinking of gardens coming back to life, just in time for Sunday's First Viewing of the Gardens, the opening day of the 2012 season at the Seattle Japanese Garden in the Washington Park Arboretum.

A Shinto blessing is at noon. Come and get in the right frame of mind for the garden's natural serenity, then learn how to create your own works of beauty in a calligraphy workshop from 1 to 2:30 p.m. Or just come and say hi to the honking big koi, pictured here.

Remember, Cheap Fun can be classy, too.

• Seattle Japanese Garden First Viewing, 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Sunday; $10 adults, $5/ages 6-17 and ages 65 and older, college students with ID and disabled persons; 1075 Lake Washington Blvd. E., Seattle (www.theseattlejapanesegarden.com or 206-684-4725).

Brian J. Cantwell, Seattle Times travel staff