Danny McG may be remembering this story. I'm thinking a strong possibility with several matches including 'petals' and 'rose' in the title is "Petals of Rose" by Marc Stiegler.

The creatures or people are very short-lived, and sometimes fall dead while speaking. One does not even finish a full sentence of greeting: "May you die by a rising star."

They are called Rosans. Not just because they're short-lived; they are also covered in petals.

They also live on a planet called Khayyam and quote a version of Khayyam's rubaiyat about the ephemeral rose blossom:

Look to the Rose that blows about us — "Lo,

Laughing," she says, "into the World I blow:

At once the silken Tassel of my Purse

Tear, and its Treasure on the Garden throw."

It's a long story, in the "Aliens from Analog" anthology. It has got some descriptions of Bloodbonds and attempts to use technology and biology to reincarnate a Rosan prophet.

Both human engineers, the man and the woman, have some kind of affectionate relationship with a Rosan.

Danny McG may be remembering this story. I'm thinking a strong possibility with several matches including 'petals' and 'rose' in the title is "Petals of Rose" by Marc Stiegler.

The creatures or people are very short-lived, and sometimes fall dead while speaking. One does not even finish a full sentence of greeting: "May you die by a rising star."

They are called Rosans. Not just because they're short-lived; they are also covered in petals.

They also live on a planet called Khayyam and quote a version of Khayyam's rubaiyat about the ephemeral rose blossom:

Look to the Rose that blows about us — "Lo,
Laughing," she says, "into the World I blow:
"At once the silken Tassel of my Purse
Tear, and its Treasure on the Garden throw."

It's a long story, in the "Aliens from Analog" anthology. It has got some descriptions of Bloodbonds and attempts to use technology and biology to reincarnate a Rosan prophet.

Both human engineers, the man and the woman, have some kind of affectionate relationship with a Rosan.