The lab's door has a peeling coat of forest green paint with a small silver placard of "gardens" in an antiquated type. Inside, one half of the room is a desk wedged under a wall of crowded wooden shelves, which are layered in a mixture of books, crystals, and tiny sculptures of muskbirdos. Gardens is a selective collector and a devoted caretaker, spending hours talking to her creatures. Her cup of tea sits steaming next to the open pages of an observation journal. On a typical afternoon, the sound of creatures murmuring contentedly blends gently with the low buzz of the lab computer.