This second photo might show what's "wrong" with the flower better.....basically the bases of the petals are much thinner in width than they should be and as the bud opens you can see through the bases like the bars of a jail cell....and then it opens to a flower that just isn't right.

Mine do that when they are infested with white flies or spider mites. I swish them in the tub, with mild baby shampoo and water and let them air dry - it seems to keep them under control and the flowers don't blast and look like a tornado hit them. Mine are leafless right now.

Unfortunately I didn't manage to get pics of the second bud when it opened--you can see it again in the left of the photo above. The second was more normal in form--colors were quite similar to Violet Crescent, believe it or not (on both flowers), except the dark violet petal edges weren't quite so prominent on mine. And best of all--both of these flowers were triples!

Mike in MN

Thanks for the help, Kay--yeah, I've dealt with spider mites twice now--I keep a CLOSE watch on my babies for those buggers now! And I've seen no whiteflies--have never had those that I can recall. This MAY have been the result of overly cool nights (as well as days!) in August before I brought all my adeniums inside--several had set buds that the waning sunlight and warmth just couldn't open. Once I got them all under my fluorescent lights, several bloomed and 3 or 4 had these goofy looking flowers. I've got a few (not-so-great) pics of Violet Heart (grafted plant, bought from Rinoa last summer) that also had these deformed flowers--not sure if you can tell in these pics....

Another oddity--all the flowers I got (maybe 6 or 7) on this Violet Heart were doubles....except this one--a triple!

Also had several flowers on Black Pearl that were deformed like this--you can see some of the skinny petal bases on the upper blooms in this pic. These flowers have already been open for 3 or 4 days--that light pink edging to the petals was all dark purple/black when they first opened--I have one last bud coming on it right now that should open in a few days.....it looks normal so far.....