all about us
Thanks so much for visiting our website. Here’s a little more about us and how we got started.
our philosophy
We supply and arrange beautiful and locally grown cut flowers using environmentally conscientious practices. We grow our flowers in our own backyards without the use of pesticides or chemical fertilizers.
Much like the slow food movement sourcing local ingredients, we believe strongly that beautiful flowers can be grown locally and do not have to be sourced or shipped from other states or countries.
Our Story
Jason and Kate grew up as childhood friends in the same small community in New Hampshire. As life took them in different directions after high school, they lost touch, but unbeknownst to them at the time, they followed a similar path. After college, both moved to the west coast, ultimately living in San Francisco and meeting their partners, but never reconnecting themselves. In 2005, Jason and his husband Toho moved back east to Portland, Maine to begin a new chapter. In 2015, Kate and her husband Sean did the same, only to find that they had purchased the house next door. You can imagine the surprise and joy as an old friendship was rekindled.
Jason had slowly transformed his wooded lot into an expansive garden space featuring raised beds, perennial gardens, fruit trees and cut flowers. In 2018, he began selling his fresh flowers from a roadside stand and Kate was motivated to get involved.
Inspired by the community’s warm reaction to their flower stand the pair decided to join forces, and yards, and expand into a complete urban flower farm and design studio. Kate brings a keen aesthetic eye and a knack for beautifying spaces and Jason contributes his significant agricultural knowledge and expertise. To propel their dream forward, they both successfully completed the Professional Certified Florist program through the Maine State Florist and Grower’s Association. In 2019 Backyard Blooms officially took root.
Backyard Blooms is the product of Jason and Kate’s shared desire to cultivate and contribute beauty to the community. Their flowers are grown locally. Grown with care. Grown for you.
Kate Hanavan Ross
Before discovering a deep love for growing and designing with flowers, Kate pursued a career in early childhood education that spans more than 20 years. Throughout that time children always inspired her to view the natural world through a lens that is unfiltered and full of wonder. Their unabashed curiosity and ability to find magic in everyday moments always fueled her appreciation for the beauty found in nature.
With the arrival of her daughter in 2016, came a strong desire to commit to the pursuit of incorporating beauty and design into her daily life. Deciding to partner with Jason to start a flower business offered an opportunity for both personal and professional growth. Kate is proud that her daughter can watch her cultivating not only a family but also the things that make her feel whole and inspired personally.
Kate has always had an affinity for making spaces visually pleasing and harmonious, especially when designing with flowers or incorporating other natural elements. She has enjoyed developing her design style and particularly likes foraging for unique elements to add to her designs. She always travels with a pair of snips, eyeing the side of the road or her friend’s yards for interesting and unexpected additions to her designs.
Jason Aucoin
Jason’s interest in flower farming began after watching his grandmother tend to her collection of African Violets in her small urban apartment. It gave her such pleasure and a sense of accomplishment to watch her plants bloom and thrive. Years later, Jason found himself at home in the garden appreciating the uniqueness of nature, which is so easily overlooked if one is not paying attention.
In 2009, Jason completed the Maine Master Gardner program. And in 2018, he had the idea to turn an unused part of his lawn into a large cut-flower garden and maybe even sell a few flowers. He experimented with a roadside flower stand in front of his house that summer. Kate fell in love with the flowers and the community connection, and together, they decided they could do better. Their combined inspiration led to a Backyard Blooms expansion from a stand into a full-fledged business.
There is something incredibly powerful and satisfying in nurturing a tiny seed into a finished flower. Jason’s hope is that customers who purchase Backyard Blooms will experience the same joy in appreciating the flowers that he does in growing them.