About Bestside Blooms & Kind Hearts Bloom

Our Mission:

At Bestside Blooms, we help gardeners grow beautiful, sustainable outdoor spaces with confidence and joy. We offer garden consulting that focuses on thoughtful plant choices, seasonal planting, and realistic maintenance - guidance that works for your life and your landscape.

Bestside Blooms is a social enterprise: a business driven by purpose. A portion of our annual revenue supports Kind Hearts Bloom, a nonprofit working to build community, nurture wellness, and spread kindness through gardens and flowers.

Bestside Blooms

Bestside Blooms was founded by Kristen out of a love for gardening, community connection, and a belief that outdoor spaces can enrich lives. What began with cut flowers and floral design has grown into a focus on garden education and planning that empowers people to create gardens they enjoy and can maintain.

Today, Bestside Blooms offers:

  • Garden consulting - in person (Grand Rapids) and virtual

  • Clear, visual planting guidance for home gardens

  • Support for gardeners who want actionable plans and confidence in their decisions

Bestside Blooms does not install plants or provide ongoing maintenance; instead, our work is about teaching, planning, and empowering you to do the gardening you want to do. All consulting proceeds help support our nonprofit partner, Kind Hearts Bloom.

Meet Kind Hearts Bloom

Kind Hearts Bloom is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that grew out of the same mission that inspires Bestside Blooms: to bring beauty, connection, and growth to our community through gardens and flowers.

What Kind Hearts Bloom Does

Kind Hearts Bloom runs garden‑based programs focused on:

  • Community connection and wellness — bringing neighbors together through gardening

  • Access to gardens and green spaces — including programs like yard sharing and community garden projects

  • Sharing blooms and care — delivering no-cost flowers and creating moments of joy for neighbors who could use a kind gesture

Support the Mission

Right now, you can support Kind Hearts Bloom in a few simple ways:

  • Purchase fresh local flowers
    Get weekly summer bouquets or buckets of flowers for events - grown by neighbors, for neighbors.
    → 100% of proceeds support Kind Hearts Bloom’s community work
    Click here to see current floral offerings

  • Donate
    Your gift helps us maintain gardens, deliver flowers, and create spaces where neighbors connect and care for one another.
    Donate now

  • Volunteer
    Help us plant, harvest, arrange, or share flowers with the community.
    Check out Volunteer Opportunities here

Meet the Founder

Howdy, neighbor! I’m Kristen, the founder of Bestside Blooms and Kind Hearts Bloom. What started as a love for gardening and flowers became a way to help others grow - both plants and community!

I’m passionate about sustainable gardens that feel attainable, joyful, and rooted in connection. I’m honored to help you with your garden and to support neighbors growing gardens and kindness across Grand Rapids.