The Akron Symphony Guild's popular Portage Lakes home tour returns July 16, but you need to order your tickets soon.

Reservations are due Friday for the tour, which features five lakeside homes. Among them is the Tudor House, a 20-room mansion built in 1928.

Pontoon boats will take participants to the homes starting at 11 a.m. at the Olde Harbor Inn, 562 Portage Lakes Drive, Coventry Township.

Tickets are $40 for general admission and $55 for patrons. Patrons get early boarding, a pre-tour reception and tickets to an upcoming symphony concert. Everyone gets a boxed lunch.

To order tickets, write a check to Akron Symphony Guild and mail it to Symphony Tour, 2697 Oak Park Blvd., Cuyahoga Falls, OH 44221. Include a self-addressed, stamped envelope.

Proceeds benefit the orchestra, chorus and youth symphony. For information, call 330-923-2317.

Art contest winners

Three youths who attend area schools are winners in Project Evergreen's first Art of Green Spaces Competition.

The contest was open to children involved in Boys & Girls Clubs of the Western Reserve and students at Western Reserve Academy. They were challenged to use poetry, painting or mixed-media artwork to tell why green spaces are important to Akron's environment, economy and quality of life.

Winners are Patricia Boh, 16, of New Orleans, a student at Western Reserve; Nicholas Hobbs, 15, of Cleveland, also a Western Reserve student; and Evie Nyerges, 5, of Stow, who attends Indian Trail Elementary. Each received $100.

The winning entries are on display this month at the F.A. Seiberling Nature Realm in Akron.

Mansion off market

You've missed your chance to own the Anchorage.

Owner Jack Jeter has taken the West Akron mansion off the market. He had extensively renovated the landmark and put it on the market a year ago for nearly $2.4 million, but now he's decided to stay.

The Anchorage was built in 1925 by Goodyear's Paul W. Litchfield and his wife, Florence.

Seminar canceled

If you were planning on heading out to the Sustainable Gardening seminar this morning at Donzell's Flower & Garden Center, pour yourself another cup of coffee instead. The program has been canceled.

Events, programs

• Floor sample sale, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. today, Ohio Design Centre, 23533 Mercantile Road, Beachwood (off Chagrin Boulevard, west of Interstate 271). Seven showrooms, normally open only to decorators and their clients, will sell floor samples to the public at discounted prices. All items are sold as is, and all sales are final. No admission charge. Information: 216-831-1245 or http://www.ohiodesigncentre.com.

• Home & Garden Tour, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. today, Hudson. Self-guided tour of homes and gardens, presented by the Hudson Garden Club. Tickets: $20, available at the ticket booth on the Village Green or at the Garden Shop (after noon) in the Hudson Middle School, 77 N. Oviatt St. Proceeds fund tree planting in Hudson, scholarships, grants and community gardening projects. Information: http://www.hudsongardenclub.org.

• Ice Cream Social and Outdoor Family Fun, 4 to 8:30 p.m. today, Secrest Arboretum, Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center, 1680 Madison Ave., Wooster Township. Entertainment and activities. Free admission; ice cream sold for community fundraiser. Picnics welcome. Information: 330-263-3761 or http://secrest.osu.edu.

• Ohio Lavender Festival, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. today and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday, DayBreak Lavender Farm, 2129 Frost Road, Streetsboro. Presentations, demonstrations, workshops, Johnny Appleseed re-enactor and more. $7; families (two parents plus up to four children younger than 13), $20; three-day pass, $20. Free parking and shuttle service at the old Wal-Mart, 9440 State Route 14. Information: http://www.ohiolavenderfestival.com or 330-626-3235.

• Habitats and Plantings for Pollinators, 2 to 4 p.m. Tuesday, starting at Secrest Arboretum, Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center, 1680 Madison Ave., Wooster Township. ''Walk-about'' program will teach about creatures that pollinate flowers, plants that attract them and what they need to thrive. Program starts at the arboretum's Landscape Gardens on Williams Road. Free. Information: 330-263-3761 or http://secrest.osu.edu.

• Western Reserve Rose Society meeting, 7 p.m. Tuesday, meeting room, Cuyahoga County Public Library, Middleburg Heights branch, 15600 E. Bagley Road. Program: ''The Joy of Old Garden Roses.'' Information: 330-220-2213 or webmaster@westernreserverosesocie-ty.org.

• Beyond the Fences of Zoar garden tour, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesday, Zoar Village, Tuscarawas County. Tour of eight private and three public gardens and daylong series of gardening seminars, sponsored by the Zoar Community Association. Tickets: tour only, $15; tour and lunch at Zoar Tavern, $30. Reservations required for tour and lunch option at 330-874-2646. Tour-only tickets may be purchased in advance and will be available the morning of the tour at a booth in the South Parking Lot and in the afternoon at the Town Hall Museum. Information: http://www.zca.org.

• Good Gardening Workshop: Beginning Bonsai, 6 to 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Cleveland Botanical Garden, 11030 East Blvd. Members, $18; nonmembers, $25. Registration: 216-721-1600 or http://www.cbgar-den.org.

• Herbal beauty products talk, 7 p.m. Wednesday, F.A. Seiberling Nature Realm, 1828 Smith Road, Akron. Talk by Jody Byrne, co-founder of DayBreak Lavender Farm in Streetsboro. Presented by the Master Gardeners of Summit County. Free. Information: 330-865-8065.

• Pond Construction, 6 p.m. Thursday, Hoffman's Garden Center, 1021 E. Caston Road, Green. Free, but reservations are required. Registration: 330-896-9811 or 800-870-4479. Information: http://www.hoffmansgardencenter.com.

• House Makeover: Exterior Painting of Your Old House, 9 to 10:30 a.m. next Saturday, Carriage House Auditorium, Stan Hywet Hall & Gardens, 714 N. Portage Path, Akron. Restoration workshop and related tour. $25. Registration: 330-315-3227 or mheppner@stanhywet.org. Information: http://www.stanhywet.org (click on ''Education,'' then ''Adult Programs,'' then ''Historic House Workshop Series'').

• Master Gardeners Tour of Gardens, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. next Saturday. Self-guided tour of gardens in Richfield, Bath Township and Copley Township. Tickets $15, available until Friday at Graf Growers and Donzell's Flower and Garden Center in Akron, Suncrest Gardens in Boston Township, the Gardener of Bath in Bath Township and the Ohio State University Extension office in Cuyahoga Falls. No tickets will be sold on tour day. Information: 330-869-0889 or reet442@yahoo.com.

• Progress Through Preservation meeting, 7 p.m. June 30, First Congregational Church, 292 E. Market St., Akron. Tour of the newly restored church. Optional dinner, 5 p.m., Bricco, West Exchange and Main streets. Dinner reservations due Friday at 330-374-3787. Information: http://www.ptpakron.org.

• Zensai: The Horticulture of Japan, through June 29, Cleveland Botanical Garden, 11030 East Blvd. Show includes programs, exhibits of art and photographs, tours of the Japanese Garden and displays of ikebana flower arranging and bonsai, the art of miniaturizing plants. Hours: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mondays-Saturdays (open till 9 p.m. Wednesdays), noon to 5 p.m. Sundays. Admission: $7.50; children ages 3-12, $3; members and younger children, free. Information: 216-721-1600 orhttp://www.cbgarden.org.

• Great Garden Adventure, through Oct. 31, Stan Hywet Hall & Gardens, 714 N. Portage Path, Akron. Imagination Stations throughout the grounds help visitors reconnect with nature and learn about natural phenomena. Displays of flower sculptures made by ''junkyard artist'' P.R. Miller and whimsical bugs and butterflies made by area students. Hours: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesdays-Sundays. Closed Mondays except Labor Day. Various admission options are available, with adult prices ranging from $8-$25. More information: 330-836-5533 or http://www.stanhywet.org.

Mary Beth Breckenridge can be reached at 330-996-3756 or mbrecken@thebeaconjournal.com.