What the Bees Taught Me About Spring, Curiosity, and Design

Spring always has a way of waking things up—especially curiosity.

On our mountain flower farm, something unexpected started happening each August: the bees arrived. Not just a few, but thousands. What began as a quiet question turned into a full-on family investigation—and eventually, inspiration for our newest collection. Here's the story.

The Bumblebee Mystery

It started small—like most good things do. The first time we grew dahlias on our high-altitude farm, we noticed something peculiar: bumblebees. Not just here and there, but dozens… then hundreds… then thousands.

Each dahlia plant seemed to have a jolly little bee floating from bloom to bloom.

Not angry bees. Not the kind that sting you while you're trying to weed your garden. These bees danced. They swam in pollen. They lived what I imagine is the bee version of a very good life.

And it made us wonder:
How do they know to come here?

Clues from the Land

Our farm sits at 7,884 feet in a high-altitude Colorado valley. There are no nearby neighbors. No obvious food sources. Just a field of flowers in the middle of nowhere. Who sends the memo to these bees every August? And where do they go after the first frost?

We’re a curious bunch by nature, so we did what any farm family would do—we started researching.

What We Found Out

These bees aren’t honeybees. They’re native bumblebees—gentle, wild pollinators that nest in the ground and rely on flower-rich places like ours to survive.

They don’t make honey for harvest or live in large hives. They work in small colonies, live more solitary lives, and quietly do vital work for ecosystems.

And somehow, our flower fields have become a hidden haven for them.

From Curiosity to Creativity

We were so charmed by them—so in awe of their joy and return year after year—that they started to inspire more than questions.

They inspired design.

This season, as I worked on a new summer linen collection for our market, I couldn’t stop thinking about those bees: their bounce, their calm, their quiet cheerfulness. The result? A collection that feels like them. Light. Playful. Grounded in nature. Built for joyful movement.

The Quiet Power of Curiosity

🐝 The moral of the story? Curiosity is underrated.

There are small, magical things happening around you every day. You just have to be paying attention.

In a world that sometimes encourages us to harden, to hustle, to expect the worst—I’m making the case for wonder.

Let spring and summer soften you. Let them wake you up.
Be curious. It might just lead you somewhere beautiful.

With love from the farm,
Wendi