A bee gathers pollen from a dahlia at Beeline Blooms.

Adaira DeLong, 11, inspects a butterfly at Beeline Blooms before setting the creature free as Adaira’s mother Karla DeLong walks by with a bouquet of dahlias harvested at the farm.

Volunteers attend to the dahlias at Beeline Blooms Flower Farm in Ben Lomond. The farm began in 2022 with an intention to bring color and joy back to the Alba Road mountain community, which had been devastated by the CZU Lightning Complex Fire in 2020. The farm boasts several hundred varieties of naturally grown dahlias to expand the regenerative gardening aspect of the project with the intention of spreading the word about the efficacy and joy of sustainable food production. Beeline Blooms, created by sisters Karla DeLong and Katrina London along with their families and community, also includes a thriving vegetable garden and, of course hives of buzzing bees.

LEFT: Sisters Karla DeLong and Katrina London. ABOVE: Beeline Blooms’ dahlia farm in Ben Lomond fills a hilltop off Alba Road that was burned in the CZU.