Sacha wrote re Solandra:

It's interesting in that it has buds all the way along the branches which
are still quite tight but this one huge flower starting from the tip.
Presumably it will then bloom all the way up the branches, opening one after
the other?

Yes, it's odd that some plants start flowering in the opposite way to
which we expect. It's been quite a few years (a couple of decades
even) since I last grew Solandra and I can't remember it doing that.
However that is not to say it didn't happen. There are plants in my
garden that flower 'last bud first' every year and they always catch me
by surprise. Oh for those days of perfect recall and 20:20 vision!

David