Oh, okay. I'm new here and obviously, didn't give a very good description. I'm
not familiar with some "gardening" terms, so bare with me.

The reason why I don't think its a particularly rare plant and assumed
(perhaps incorrectly) that it was a perennial is that my employer is not known
for being particularly interested in spending any amount of time dealing with
landscaping. I can't image that they would spend the time or money to purchase
flowers every year and plant them. They have a hard enough time keeping the
grass mowed and fairly fresh mulch down. So, I concluded that they would be
more apt to plant a bulb once and walk away without any intention of "helping"
it along.

By looking at the pictures, It does not look like it is Lily of the Valley,
but is somewhat similar. I didn't take measurements. Let me re-adjust my
estimate on the height from the ground to the very top at approx. 12-14
inches. (yeah, its a far cry from 2 feet. not great with evaluating these
kinds of things). The stem appears to be fairly thick, maybe 1/4 -1/2 " in
diameter( a bit wider than a thick asparagus)

The top 1/3 is covered with individual flowers, similar to the picture of the
LoTV. But the flowers are bigger. Each flower seems to have a small stem of
its own that comes off the main stem. I'd say its maybe 1/4 -1/2 inch in
length..longer the farther down the main stem you are and shorter as you reach
the top. The small stems grow upward and then the flower comes out of it.

The flowers are delicate looking, but are fairly sturdy when handling them.
They have a waxy feel to them. The base of the flower is in the shape of a
bell. Now, imagine a bell turned upside down. What was the top of the bell, is
now the base of the flower and is attached to a small stem. Instead of the
bell only slightly narrowing and then stopping, the round bell portion stays
the same but then as it narrows it also elongates and the "lip" of the bell
actually comes close to closing. But it doesn't The flowers have approx. five
"tips" (I can't think of a better word) that fold outward in a curl backward
underneath. (Imagine you have say, a cupcake liner and you cut the sides
halfway down, perpendicular to the base, then fold the edges outward allowing
for a curl in the folds. This is what the tips do) The center of the flower
has a slight yellow look to it.

The bloom is approx. 1/2" in height and when the "tips" are folded outward,
its maybe 1/4" a bit more in diameter, BUT this is the widest part of the
bloom. The bell portion of the base is no more than 1/8" in diameter.

The blooms are fairly evenly spaced along the main stem and since the width of
the flower is greater at its top then base, it often appears that there are
more blooms on the plant then there actually is. That extra width at the top
of the bloom adds to the appearance of a fairly densely group of blooms, but
its only an allusion.

In the picture, the blooms were too small and spaced too far apart. They also
lacked the roundness at the base of the "bell" that this plant has, but the
picture does show the elongation of the bloom but not the folding back of the
tips and their curling under.

Most of the blooms were white, though I did see a few on other plants that
were a brownish color....(not spoiled) but more of the color of butternut
squash.

If someone could provide a link to some good pictures, I might be able to find
the plant, but I've looked and can't find any that resemble this.

Please feel free to ask questions if I didn't make things clear. And we don't
have a horticulture dept. and calling landscaping would be pointless....they
have even less of an idea about plants than I do.

Darby

Cereoid+10+ wrote:

Being to cheap to buy annuals would not be the reason why certain favorite
traditional perennials are planted.

Although you did not describe the foliage or whether the flowers are six
parted, I would suspect you are alluding to "Lilly of the Valley"
(Convallaria majalis), a sentimental favorite. They were probably planted
there long before you were born.

http://homepages.ihug.co.nz/~rossrut...%20majalis.jpg

http://www.dutchbulbs.com/cat/S2002/images/74161.jpg

Darby Wiggins wrote in message
...
I just passed by some really gorgeous flowers on campus today and am
interested in knowing what they are. I think they are a perennial as
George Mason University is too cheap to buy annuals or to keep up with
the care of them. Its about 2 feet tall and the top 3 maybe 4" of it is
covered with delicate small white flowers that are bell shaped. The
individual flowers are rather deep and then the tips fold outward. They
have a slightly yellow center. Currently, they smell similar to
gardenias. They're in bloom now and are just wonderful! Most are white
but I did see some that were a creamy brown color....almos the color of
butternut squash on the outside.

Any ideas what this is? I think its fairly popular as again, my work
would not go out of its way to get some rare flower, or one that did not
need a lot of care.

Cheers
Darby