Beeline Blooms

When I’m running late for something new, it often leads to anxiety and tunnel vision, my focus fixated solely on my destination. However, my arrival at Beeline Blooms on Stephens Road in the mountains was different. Despite some detours and encountering road bikers on Alba Road, I felt a literal and figurative breath of fresh air as I stepped out of my car.

Entering the garden, the deer fencing caught my eye, subtly reminding me of our forest surroundings. Cleverly camouflaged with a mix of biennial, perennial, and annual flowers alongside a row of corn, it hinted at the existence of a real-life Secret Garden. My attention then turned to the Dahlias, still vibrant even late in the season. Rows of white, pink, orange, and red Dahlias in various shapes and sizes adorned the garden. Beeline Blooms, operated by sisters Karla DeLong and Katrina London, patiently answered my questions about Dahlias and their farm. They shared their pest control philosophy, emphasizing inviting and encouraging the ecology to maintain itself.

This approach extends to the entire farm. They use only foliar sprays like kelp for plant health, and they deter pests like gophers with companion plants such as marigolds, foxgloves, delphinium, and daffodils. Beeline Blooms exclusively sells their flowers on-site, with a small section of vegetables that includes tomatoes, squash, green beans, and soon, sweet peas for spring. They don’t have a farm stand or participate in farmers’ markets. To acquire their products, you must visit in person and experience the space, a deliberate journey through mountain towns like Ben Lomond, Bonny Doon, or Boulder Creek.

In the post-pandemic world, where you can order everything from holiday gifts and handmade art to groceries, therapy, and medication online, it can be a Herculean effort to leave your house. But community isn’t found on a screen, and connection doesn’t come from the click of a mouse. It can come from the click of shears cutting through flower stems. I’m a plant enthusiast through and through, and while I usually have little to say that doesn’t relate to plants in one way or another, my visit to Beeline Blooms left me captivated by the diversity of floral forms, the companion planting to attract beneficial pollinators, and the surprising absence of overwhelming pest and disease issues in such a compact garden with minimal pest control. I love plants, and I appreciate people. Beeline Blooms uses plants to show love to people, which piqued my interest. I could go on describing the garden in detail, but if you’re curious about how it looks, smells, and feels, go and see it. You’re invited.

Beeline Blooms began as a passion project—a way to give back to the community and heal a piece of scorched earth and wounded hearts. When Karla saw the Google Earth image of the burn scar on her property from the 2020 CZU complex fire, she decided to create something visible from space; she would make it a rainbow. Originally, this was a gift, a means to bring joy and restore the community after the fractures of 2020. After a successful first year, they raised funds for the Alba Schoolhouse and provided hundreds of bouquets to neighbors, fire survivors, and new friends who came to enjoy this little spot of joy on the side of a mountain. Beeline Blooms embarked on their second year, wondering if this project could be sustainable.My question upon hearing this was whether the project was more than just a therapy garden and flower farm.

“People have asked if we would do CSA boxes or a similar model where you pay upfront and then receive something later. We’re flipping that model,” Karla explained while marking variety names on flagging tape to catalog each plant. “We’re not aiming to be community-supported agriculture. We’re building an Agriculture Supported Community.”

Karla and her husband Dan share this vision of Beeline Blooms as a place where they want to be and where others want to join them. This year, they experimented with a U-pick model that brought people to the farm, allowed for flower distribution, and freed the owners from making every bouquet. It also provided a financial boost and gave them more time for their favorite aspects: volunteer days and educational opportunities. Both Karla and Katrina have other occupations, like Karla’s role as an educator at Mountain Feed and Farm Store in Ben Lomond.

Karla described her role as the plant enthusiast, while Katrina, with nearly two decades of experience as a youth educator and program coordinator, manages the business side. Together, they channel their skills and passion into driving the project forward. They organize volunteer days (currently on Wednesdays from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.) and plan to host educational workshops, such as a series on tuber lifting and dividing, providing hands-on learning and participation. Everyone, regardless of their gardening experience, can contribute to the garden’s growth and return next summer, saying, ‘I helped build this, and look at how beautiful it is.’  Beeline Blooms isn’t just a business; it’s a labor of love, an outdoor extension of the community space they worked to rebuild.

From my first visit, I wholeheartedly agree. Beeline Blooms is everything one could hope for – welcoming, inviting, and extraordinarily beautiful. As the years go by and people start moving on from the fire tragedy, the land and the community will continue to reshape itself. The physical community center may get rebuilt, but until then, and even after, let’s hope this new, beautiful heart will continue pumping rainbow joy into the homes of locals and visitors alike.