Frailea grahliana

Last weekend I watched in eager anticipation because I expected to FINALLY see a flower on this Frailea grahliana that I have had for about two years now. Previously, all that has happened is that it buds then sets seed without opening a flower. I took photos to capture the sequence ...

In the morning, the bud promised to open...



Starting to open...


This is as far as it got...



because it started to rain.


So, I'm a bit disappointed that I didn't get to see the full flower open, and the next day I had to be at work and I have no idea if it opened then, but by this weekend it had finished. The other plant is budding out now so I am waiting to see if it will become a bloom or just a fruit.

I always thought that Frailea was delicate but this one is out in the garden and gets regular rain and sunshine with no ill effects - but it is filled out and has lots of offsets and has produced lots of seeds. I'm now starting out to grow some other Frailea species from seed so I hope to do well with them as I seem to be getting better with keeping young seedlings alive.