Yesterday afternoon we had a monsoon rain and pea sized hail. After everything settled down, the air smelled wonderful. I then made a trip to the CSU Flower Trial Garden and may have fallen in love with a new flower. Please enlarge this image to check out the tiny hair follicles and this plant’s beautiful color. Cashmere sage is a perennial flower grown for its clusters of flowers. These showy lavender-pink blossoms are arranged in tight whorls on slender stems, and appear in summer over soft green, broad leaves. Google says the tiny hairs can deter insects and other animals from eating the leaves by making the plant less appealing or hindering their movement. The fuzzy texture created by the trichomes can help shade the leaves and reduce water loss from the plant’s surface. In some cases, the hairs can help absorb and retain moisture from the air, especially in dry environments. Who would have known? I’ve learned something new!