Fifteen years ago, strange plants started appearing all over the City Center. Some of these plants were not usually found in the area but otherwise normal; others were otherplanar or had magical properties. The Department of Transportation investigated and came to the conclusion that someone was deliberately planting this greenery—possibly an organized group, but just as likely a single person. The culprit, however, was never identified, and came to be called "the Gardener". For some time the Department of Transportation had a policy of removing the plants as they were discovered and tried to set traps for the Gardener to determine their identity and put a stop to their actions, but it quickly became apparent that public sentiment was on the Gardener's side. Not only was the Gardener beautifying the area, but some of the plants were useful, having edible fruits or other parts or having medicinal or alchemical uses. Though officially the Department of Transportation still condemns the Gardener's work, unofficially the department's current policy is to just let them continue unhindered.

While the heads of the Department of Transportation might not know the true identity of the Gardener, among many of the common people of the City Center it's an open secret. The Gardener is Qalra Inḥini, an old ouphe who grew up in the City Center as a girl but who moved out with her family when her mother was fortunate enough to find a well-paying job in King's Hollow. Inḥini used her share of her family's newfound wealth to study botany, a subject in which she had always had an interest, and even learned some spells she could use to aid plant growth and to summon plants from other planes. Inḥini made a living applying her knowledge of botany—especially xenobotany—to assist in materials research, but on retirement decided to move back to the City Center and use her knowledge and resources to better the neighborhood where she was raised. She's since started spreading out and doing her planting in neighboring areas like Watercastle and Stonewalk, but it's still in the City Center where she's most active.

Qalra Inḥini is a stumpy, bandy-legged woman with a heavy, swaying gait. She has a beak nose with arched nostrils, dark but thin eyebrows that rise toward the sides of her head, and thin gray hair that she partially braids. She is not talkative, but when she does speak it is in a high voice like a distant wind, often puffing her cheeks and noisily exhaling by way of punctuation. She generally goes out in a rough dress made of thick and sturdy fabric, with her head wrapped in a headscarf and her shoulders in a shawl.