by Ardeana Hamlin
of The Weekly Staff
BUCKSPORT — Two days after a big snowstorm wreaked havoc on the Bucksport landscape, causing power outages and leaving many homes without heat, there was a warm welcome at Daffodils, a florist shop at 81 Main St. in Bucksport. Owner Joe Grollino had strewn the doorstep with rose petals.
Feeling welcome is something that matters very much to Grollino. He and his partner Fiona Hunter moved from Bar Harbor to Bucksport and opened Daffodils on May 1. “The people of Bucksport are very warm and welcoming. I felt like I’d made a good decision. [When the store opened] people came in to support us, to tells us they loved the effort we had made to make the store look nice. People would pullover when they were driving by and say that our window boxes were the nicest they had ever seen,” Grollino said. “I have never felt so welcome as in Bucksport.”
Even though the paper mill closure has been a frequent topic of conversation in town, Grollino has confidence in the future. The nearest florist shops are in the Ellsworth area or the Bangor area. And occasions for sending flowers include holidays such as Valentine’s Day and Mother’s Day abound throughout the years. Then there are weddings and funerals. And prom time — which kept Grollino busy turning our more than 50 corsages local high school boys to give to their dates.
Grollino, who is a Maine Certified Florist through the Maine Florists Association, said he wanted to the a florist from the time he was a child growing up in St. Petersburg, Florida. “I always loved flowers and gardening,” he said. Currently, he is studying for master’s level certification. He has been worked in the florist’s trade, and making candles, for 17 years, but this is the first time he has owned his own shop.
Hunter, a graduate of the College of the Atlantic in Bar Harbor, is working on becoming a Maine Certified Florist.
He also love three-dimensional art — ceramics and sculpture — both of which, Grollino said, can be integrated with flower arrangements. Combining those three ingredients, he said, offer limitless possibilities for what can be done for those who want custom orders.
When Grollino attended college in St. Petersburg, he was on a track to become an elementary school teacher, but found himself drawn more to art classes. Then, when he needed a job, he answered an artist wanted ad and discovered it had been placed by a man who owned a candle making shop. Grollino was hired and was told, “Here’s the wax, make some candles.”
that experience taught him how to mold, dip and carve candles. “I can start with a round ball of wax and end up with an elephant,” he said. He also ended up with one of a kind candles studded with found objects and shards of glass, candles that glow from within when lit, including skull-shaped candles, which, he said, even macho guys admire when they come into his shop.
Grollino said that during the Christmas season, customers can order a fully decorated, real Christmas tree that he will deliver and set up.
On Nov. 9, as a way to give back to the community that has been so welcoming, Grollino hosted a Toys for Tots benefit.
In addition to flower arrangements, Daffodils also offers fine crafts hand made by local artists and artisanal foods produced in Maine, including products from Appleton Creamery. Soon, he also will offer a line of cider, wine and mead made in Maine. And during the winter months, Daffodils will be filled with house plants to help customers add some greenery to the winter palette of white snow and gray skies.
“I put my all into it,” Grollino said of his work as a florist and a shopkeeper. “I love to design — the color and texture.” He especially likes working with wildflowers to create unique arrangements.
“I’m up for any challenge,” he said.
Daffodils will make deliveries in Belfast, the Blue Hill Peninsula, the Ellsworth area and even in the Brewer area. Customers outside those areas can call to make arrangements for delivery, though a fee will be added.
For information about Daffodils, to place an order for flowers for any occasion, call the shop at 266-4211, email daffodilsmaine@gmail.com or visit daffodilsflorist.com.