In addition to being America’s first public botanical garden, Boston Public Garden also hosts two of the Hub’s most beloved spring traditions. First, the Return of the Swans on May 7 beginning at 11 a.m. features the release of feathered friends Romeo and Juliet into the Public Garden Lagoon, complete with plenty of pomp, circumstance and face painting for the kids. Then experience the whimsical Duckling Day on Mother’s Day, May 10. Beginning at the Parkman Bandstand on Boston Common and continuing on to the Public Garden’s famed Duckling statues, this procession inspired by Robert McCloskey’s children’s book Make Way for Ducklings is led by the Harvard Marching Band and features hundreds of parents and their children, many of whom are dressed as their favorite characters from the classic tale. For more information, visit friendsofthepublicgarden.org.