{"id":6591,"date":"2021-04-09T09:52:12","date_gmt":"2021-04-09T13:52:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/?p=6591"},"modified":"2025-08-23T17:50:30","modified_gmt":"2025-08-23T21:50:30","slug":"spring-in-bloom-at-cook-florist","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/2021\/04\/09\/spring-in-bloom-at-cook-florist\/","title":{"rendered":"Spring in Bloom at Cook Florist"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The official start of spring was on March 20th. Even though the weather has been warm and sunny and the snow is melting away, most of Aroostook County\u2019s citizens still haven\u2019t felt the spring spirit. Well, look no further than your local florist shop, Cook Florist! Even though the snow is still slushy and the sky still gray, Cook Florist has the spring pick-me-up you\u2019ve been needing these past winter months.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The shop is owned by Karen Duncan and managed by her daughter Megan Allen. Karen is a third-generation floral designer, while Megan is a fourth-generation floral designer. The mother and daughter duo, along with a few staff members, have been diligently working under COVID regulations for the past year or so, from wearing their masks to making sure everything is clean and sanitary for the customers. Cook Florist is the perfect place to get a lovely floral arrangement for yourself or a loved one you haven\u2019t seen in a while.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Karen said, \u201cI grew up in the florist world. My grandparents Sid and Edna Cook started Cook Florist in 1943. My parents carried on the tradition. I always said I would never become a florist. My parents worked seven days a week and I did not want that. In 1983, I found myself unemployed with rent due, so I begged my mother for a job. Turns out I loved the work and was good at it.\u201d Megan had a slightly different path toward becoming a florist. She said, \u201cI became a florist to continue the family business when I realized I wanted to stay in Presque Isle after high school.\u201d After both mother and daughter decided to become florists, they went to get certified for the job.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u201cI learned a lot of design from my co-workers and my mom. But I wanted more. I attend many professional florist shows. Maine State Florists and Growers Association offered certification classes in a program titled \u2018Professional Certified Florist.\u2019 I did earn that,\u201d Karen said.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Karen also got certified through a harder\u00a0 program called \u201cMaine Master Floral Designer.\u201d Karen said, \u201cEarning that title makes me want to excel with each design.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Megan also got certified through the \u201cMaine Master Floral Designer\u201d program.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Spring is one of the busiest times of year for Cook Florist. From Easter to Mother\u2019s Day, the shop is bustling with customers and flowers. Even though the shop hasn’t gotten a lot of wedding and party orders, they are still busy with orders. Not even a global pandemic can stop people from enjoying some cheerful flowers and well-crafted dish gardens.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0What can you expect to find at Cook\u2019s? Well, now that the weather is warming up and the snow is melting, you can find a large variety of planted hydrangeas, bulb plants such as tulips and hyacinths, mixed bulb plants and calla lilies. You can also find many well-crafted spring arrangements, from lovely roses and mixed colored tulips to bright Gerber daisies and beautiful irises. Cook Florist also has many Easter designs ready in their cooler. If blooming arrangements and plants aren\u2019t your style, Cook\u2019s has a wide variety of dish gardens full of perfect indoor plants and large potted plants that can fill any room with beautiful greens to brighten up your winter blues. They even carry a variety of hanging plants if you have an animal that likes to munch on your house plants.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0If fresh flowers and plants give you allergies, have no fear for Cook Florist has you covered. At the moment, Cook Florist has a wide variety of silk and permanent arrangements to decorate your home. You can choose bright picnic baskets with colorful flowers and cheerful birds or beautiful wall hangings for your home. The possibilities are endless at Cook Florist. If you don\u2019t have a green thumb and you\u2019re not a huge fan of bright and cheerful permanent arrangements, you can come and check out Cook\u2019s new fake succulent desk arrangements. These fake succulent arrangements will brighten up any dreary office and are perfect for a small desk or shelf. No sunlight or water is needed!\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Being a florist is hard work but also comes with great rewards. \u201cMy Favorite thing about being a florist is the variety of jobs I do every day. I can go in and design flowers, work with plants and dirt, sit down with the bride and design her perfect day or deliver flowers to a customer. It is never boring,\u201d Karen said.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Even though the work is fun, it can also be\u00a0 hard at times for a designer. \u201cI love this job and my work. It is not always easy. I have sat down with families that have lost a loved one under the worst circumstances. But I want to be there to help. I work at a job I love and I am very lucky to do so.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0If you\u2019d like to check out Cook Florist to buy something or just explore, the store is located at 174 Main St., Presque Isle, Maine 04769. If you have no time to visit the shop, then you can call their number at (207)769-2731 and order an arrangement of your choosing. For more information and to be able to see what they sell, you can also visit their website, <\/span>www.PresqueIsleflowershop.com<\/span><\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The official start of spring was on March 20th. Even though the weather has been warm and sunny and the snow is melting away, most of Aroostook County\u2019s citizens still haven\u2019t felt the spring spirit. Well, look no further than your local florist shop, Cook Florist! Even though the snow is still slushy and the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":120,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7381],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6591","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-archives","et-doesnt-have-format-content","et_post_format-et-post-format-standard"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6591","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/120"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6591"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6591\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8285,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6591\/revisions\/8285"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6591"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6591"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6591"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}