ORONO – This year’s Garden Gathering will be held, rain or shine, on Saturday, August 20, at the Penobscot County Master Gardeners’ Demonstration Garden at the Rogers Farm, University of Maine.

Registration begins at 9:30 a.m and the first workshop will begin at 10:30 a.m. The gathering will feature not only a “how to” session on building an 8-foot by 8-foot backyard greenhouse, but also a raffle to win the structure built during the demonstration. Master gardener Elliott Scott will construct the greenhouse. Raffle tickets will be on sale for $1 each.

Scott will demonstrate how to make a simple cold-frame suitable for growing late season crops, or for wintering over plants marginally hardy in Maine’s Zone 4/5 climate. Participants will be given plans, costs and specs for both the greenhouse and cold frame.

“So even if you don’t win the greenhouse, you can be a winner by extending the season a couple of months. Imagine home-grown lettuce with Thanksgiving dinner,” said Scott.

A hands-on workshop will feature master gardeners Pru Betterly and Roberta Lobo in which participants will create their own small-size hypertufa containers. Hypertufa, a mixture of Portland cement and several other easily obtainable materials, can be molded into almost any shape and size for a unique and affordable planter. The method was developed for gardeners who wanted planters resembling old English watering troughs without paying the high costs of originals.

Betterly said, “It’s a lot of fun, sort of like making mud pies – only you come out with something attractive and useful instead of just a pile of dried mud.”

Another craft-based workshop is making tussie mussies, back this year by popular demand. Again, the presenter will be master gardener and craftswoman Lydia Mussulman.

Some sources say tussie mussies were first made by Victorian ladies and fitted in nicely with that age’s obsession with sending secret messages via flowers. Others believe the elegant bouquets are direct descendants of the Elizabethan “posey,” a gathering of flowers kept in the hand, ready to be held to one’s nose to ameliorate unpleasant odors – which were all too common.

“Tussie mussies are so pretty and sweet, and so easy to do, it’s a shame they ever fell out of fashion,” said Mussulman. “Since I almost never send messages via bouquets, I just use the flowers or herbs I have at hand. Any wonderful smelling flower or herb that’s smallish and pretty is suitable for one of these dainty bouquets.”

Elliott Scott will hold a workshop on making and using incense. The idea grew out of Scott’s fledgling business Incense Man, where he offers scents “for the magical and the mundane.” For demonstration purposes on Aug. 20, he will use lavender as a base for his on-the-spot created incense.

To obtain a Garden Gathering schedule, call the Cooperative Extension office, 307 Maine Ave., at 942-7396 or (800) 287-1485, weekdays.

Gleason Gray is head of the Master Gardener program for the Penobscot County Extension Service.

In addition to the adult sessions there will be a special, well-supervised children’s area which features garden-themed games and crafts.

Rogers Farm is located on Bennoch Road in Old Town, between Stillwater Avenue and Route 43. As in previous years, admission and parking are free.

For those who prefer, lunch will be available on the grounds. There will be organic, vegetarian style food available as well as the more traditional burgers and hot dogs.