This is my newest purchase from January or February this year. From that wonderful time when we could all still freely go out. I saw this one little dark cactus in a shop and I new I had to have it! Already then it started to show signs of buds. There was absolutely no guarantee that they will bloom though. They could have blasted due to change of scenery (nursery, trucks, shop, home and who knows what else in between). But they didn't. They started to slowly grow and as they were getting bigger I knew it will be a dark flower. But I did not expect that!
Sulcorebutia frankiana
Just look at that flower! It has the most amazing, deep, intensive colour! Out of all my cacti it is the only one with such dark cherry/purple (I don't know even how to call it), colour. And that is not all!
The petals are not just plain flat. I am not sure if this flower was somehow deformed, or this is how they are. But they are slightly flipped and have this lovely, lightly ruffled edge and they didn't open completely. They stayed in this cup shape. I will have to wait for more flowers to open to see if they are the same. There is more buds, but they are much smaller.
Now a little info - it is native to Bolivia region and it grown on 2700-3400 metres above sea level. Growing on mountain slops it like very porous soil and since it has a tap root (like a carrot) it is very prone to root rot. The substrate it is planted in must be very fast draining.
It will enjoy full sun (hell yea I can give her full sun!) and can withstand temperature below zero degrees for short periods of time in winter. It needs the cool and dry winter rest like most cacti in order to bloom in spring.
I got mine with multiple little heads around and I managed to split one while repoting. It was just growing so low, that I would almost cover it with sand. I hope it starts to grow roots soon and I will have another little plant :)
And if you take a closer look, you'll see that the spines on it are coppery-brown, which makes the plant looking really cool, even when not in bloom.
Yes, I know it is a lot of photos for one little flower, but it is just so freaking gorgeous!
My other blooming cacti:
 Chamaecereus hybrid |  Sulcorebutia Canigueralii |  Mammillaria camptotricha |  Mammillaria Glassii |
 Gymnocalycium baldianum |  Mediolobivia mudanensis |  Lobivia Arachnacantha |  Rebutia hybrid |
 Mammillaria Bombycina |  Mammillaria Gracilis Snowcap |  Mammillaria haageana |  Mammillaria backebergiana |
 Chamaecereus silvestrii |  Mammillaria prolifera |  Rebutia Fabrisii var. Aureiflora |  Lobivia Wrightiana |
 Aylostera Flavistyla FR756 |  Parodia concinna |  Mammillaria Copper King |  Gymnocalycium Brushii |
 Mammillaria backebergiana |  Gymnocalycium damsii |  Echinopsis subdenudata |  Rhipsalis pilocarpa |
 Mammillaria Prolifera |  Lobivia arachnacantha v. vallegrandensis |  Mediolobivia atrovirens |  Mammillaria magnimamma |
 Sulcorebutia langerii |
Shot with Nikon D5500 + Sigma 105mm lens
All photos and text are my own.
