Dried Nectar

Observer: Estella Yee
Date: 09-30
Location: Martha Springer’s Garden, heading east
Time: 0943-1005
Weather: Overcast, 58˚F

Strolling by from time to time, I would always reach a fork in the path before the first waterfall where I smell an intense nectar aroma. I never had the chance to explore and find the origin of the scent, but I was curious enough today to spend a little more time sniffing at nearby plants. I managed to isolate it at the lavender array, and then noticed an incongruous 5-foot tall flowering specimen. The flowers had a chocolate tone to them and each flower was about 2 ½ inches in diameter. Each blossom was arranged around the central stalk similar to flowers strung through on a garland. Each flower petal was convex, revealing a soft white down on top of the brown coloration. At the center of the topmost blossom was a soft minute bud. The larger flowers were hard and dry. The leaves appeared elliptical, with 4 leaves to each round about the stalk. One flower stalk had bent over sharply, maybe due to the weight of the flowers and a strong gust. The fuzzy white-green leaves had a minty, herb smell to them and reminded me of a culinary ingredient. The peeling bark was light brown, and the branches were straggly. Some of the younger stalks were red but most were verdant. My discovery frustrated me though due to the lack of a tag. Every plant had a label . . . except that one. I finally gave up only to see the small white tag hiding underneath the bush, denoting the plant as:
Salvia Clevelandii
Cleveland Sage
San Diego
As I was taking in the aroma of the flowers, two mallards swiftly soared overhead, heading east. That afternoon, I noticed two mallards picking through the freshly mowed grass near the Mill, and they too flew off into the east.