Oh, and they're also not freesia.

My office gave me flowers today,

*gasp*

OMG, you died.

Stock, probably.

Here's a photo of stock. Or is that a stock photo?

It's got a very heady scent.

≡ Click to see image ≡

≡ Click to see image ≡

Peonies? Fuschia? Um... chrysanthemums?

OMG, you died.

Morbid but slightly funny story: About a week after my mother died, my office sent me flowers (actually, a live camellia bush) at home. My ex-boyfriend, with whom I was still sharing an apartment until my new lease started in a week or two, looked at me, confused, and said, "Why on earth did your company send you flowers?"

"It's pretty traditional, when someone's grieving," I said.

He got a disgusted look on his face, and spat out, in one of the most defensive tones of voice I've ever heard, "Was I supposed to give you flowers?"

Sigh. He was a treasure, that one.

Anyway. I didn't die. It was an early birthday thing.

ico, I don't think it's stock, if this photo is correct. These flowers are rufflier, with several layers of petals.

Anyway. I didn't die.

Check with a doctor. Death can be fatal.

See my photos above, occhiblu.

Yes! Those photos are right. (Sorry, should have previewed before.)

Yay yay yay. New flower to love.

Thanks!

I have a similarly morbidly amusing story. When I was in college, my girlfriend at the time's mom passed away. She's Jewish so I sat shive a with her. In the Jewish religion, you're not supposed to bring flowers, food is appreciated instead. One of her best friends was from Japan where bringing white flowers is traditional. Traditions collide a lot in New York. One of her other best friends was from Hong Kong. He brought a pizza. No joke.

Stock. Yes. (A.k.a. matthiola incana). They are among the most phenomenally fragrant flowers ever; the problem is that they are very hard to grow in any climate that actually gets *hot* in summer (they like very cool weather) and they don't last too long as cut flowers.

There is also night-blooming stock (matthiola longipetala), which is really not very attractive, but is also deliriously fragrant; it's a grand thing to have planted right under one's bedroom window on the hot sultry nights of midsummer, along with mignonette.

Sounds perfect for San Francisco! Maybe I'll try to get ikkyu to plant some next year.

Yes, they are Stock. I have some sitting in a vase on my dining table and they fill the room with lovely fragrance.

I don't believe I've ever seen stock.

Yay on getting flowers!

Congrats on the lovely flowers - and good on the co-workers for getting them early even...
I've never ever worked at a place that did such goodness... let alone acknowledge a B-day.

Hope the rest of your work life there is as good as the flower-offering! (Maybe they know how lucky they are to have you!) Good feelings going your way, and hope the B-day is super!

Hope the rest of your work life there is as good as the flower-offering! (Maybe they know how lucky they are to have you!)

Awww, thanks.

Yeah, it's a good place to work. Wonderfully kind, caring people; it's perhaps unsurprisingly that people who choose to go into a helping-others field are so kind to other people.