Parodia buiningii

A rare South American species, these are beautiful little globular cacti that stay a reasonable size and are ideal for container cultivation. These are seedlings from my own plants, grown in my greenhouse and outdoors to reach a size just shy of being large enough to bloom. The spines are tri-colored and very striking against the blue-gray body of the cactus, but every spring and summer they also produce enormous yellow flowers with brilliant fuschia stigmas at the center. Despite their rarity in the wild, they are fairly easy to grow in cultivation. A favorite in my collection, they’re fairly fast-growing until they reach mature size (about 6″ across) and then can be maintained in the same size pot for years.