scabious buds have lots of smooth 'pillows' that develop colour as they mature. as the flower opens in its full colour it then fades and the flowers drop off leaving a 'fuzzy' green cushion behind.

the other plants when their buds form they are hard and the spent flowers are softer and squidgy when you squeeze them.

Hope this helps.

Thank you. In that case, I may have been getting it right but the plants seem to take ages to reflower.

they can do: I find the native scabious the best for continuous flowering. the named varieties less so.

Ahh. Interesting.