Grower News

Carmen Cosentino stands with his daughter and co-owner Jessica Cosentino at Cosentino’s Florist in 2014, the year it celebrated its 80th year of business. The next edition of Harvesting History will see Carmen Cosentino, of Cosentino’s Florist, present on the evolution of floriculture, a history of Auburn florists and making easy fall centerpieces at 6 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 10, at the Ward W. O’Hara Agricultural & Country Living Museum and Dr. Joseph F. Karpinski Sr. Educational Center, 6880 E. Lake Road, Owasco. Cosentino, who was born into the flower business in 1932, purchased it from his family in 1962 and began changing it from a greenhouse grower operation to more of a retail one. In the early ’70s, he joined the FTD education department as a consultant, and in the mid-’80s, he moved to Teleflora and did seminar work for the company for 22 years. Cosentino has also worked on flowers for four presidential inaugurations and two White House Christmases. Today, he is preparing for the next generation to take over Cosentino’s Florist.