Pollinators of Mexican Torch Sunflower - Nature 168

The Mexican Torch Sunflower grows well in the yard in this time of year. Flowers continuously blooms from spring to frost,

Image 01 - Butterfly with Mexican Sunflower

By far the best attractor for pollinators in the yards. We observed some pollinators as frequent visitors:

- Butterfly

- Bees

- Hummingbirds

- Moth etc.

Almost every morning, we enjoy seeing pollinators sip nectar of multi-headed Mexican sunflowers.

Image 02 - Bee as a pollinator

We bought the plant from a local nursery close by our neighborhood, or you might order seed from online stores.

Image 03 - Swallowtail butterfly

Do you know this flower?

# Previous postings:

- The Free Ranging Chickens - Nature 109

- A Little Fig Tree in the Yard - Nature 110

- The Roles of Dirt Dauber in the Nature - Nature 111

- The Purslane Flowers in the Pot - Nature 112

- The White Bunny Runs around the Corner - Nature 113

Blooming of African Lily - Nature 167

We posted the beautiful flower from Africa. Flower has "3 colors combines white, yellow and purple blue."

Image 01 - Purple African Lily.

The flower called African Iris, you may read the posted:

- The Flower of White African Iris – Nature 68

The different that African Lily is purple with scientific name Agapanthus africanus. Another common name is Lily of the Nile.

We believe the flower has grown well in our areas, because of similarities with flower origin in terms of:

- warm temperature

- average sunny time more than 8 hours

Image 02 - Plant in the market.

The maintenance of flower is not so difficult, we just need watering and little bit fertilizers.

Image 03 - Purple in blooming

Do you of African lily?

# Previous postings:

-  What is the Species of Frog? - Nature 106

- Captivating Indoor Garden in Singapore - Nature 107

- The Varieties of Succulents in the Singapore - Nature 108

- Should We Install Solar Panels in Our Roof? - Part 2 - Science 38

- The Free Ranging Chickens - Nature 109

The Alligator in the Man-made Lake - Nature 166

We have several Man-made lakes around our cities. At least two lakes close by the state university. 

Image 01 - Alligator in the lake

We saw an alligator in one of manmade lakes, the size about 6 feet (2 meter) length or may be more.

Actually, it natural to see alligator in nature in our state. Just to let you know, the greatest number of Alligators in the states:

- Louisiana is about 2 million.

- Florida is around 1.3 million.  

However, it is dangerous that Man-made Lakes in residential areas are not "natural" habitats for apex predators.

Image 02 - Another alligator

Wildlife and Fisheries will come out and relocate the gator to another less populated location where there aren’t people jogging and walking pets.

Image 03 - Handbag, look like alligator skin

What do you think?

# Previous postings:

- The Rainbow Before Evening : Blooming of Flowers in the Autumn - Nature 103

- The Mexican Hat Flowers in the City Garden – Part 2 – Nature 72

- Releasing an Armadillo Back into the Wild - Nature 104

- The Chrysanthemum and other flowers – Nature 105

- The Rainbow Before Evening : What is the Species of Frog? - Nature 106

Watermelon Called Mountain Magic - Food 51

I don't know in your case, but we never seen this kind of watermelon in groceries, sweet yellow watermelon called Mountain Magic. 

Image 01 - The yellow sweet watermelon

We may grow this fruit in warm climate yards like in our areas. The best time to grow is March to April. 

However, the growing seasons also good in the late summer to early fall. If we are planting from seed, the harvest takes about 90 days.   

It is quite surprising that the fruits could reach 20 to 30 pounds in weight, might relate to fertilizer. 

The taste was slightly different compared to "red meat" watermelon and it also had a smoother texture.

Image 02 - Sold for fundraiser, red watermelon

Luckily, rats and squirrels don't like this fruit. But yes, we can also buy a plastic shell for our melons protection or to shape them.

Image 03 - Harvested.

Have you tasted Mountain Magic watermelon?

# Previous postings:

- Plumeria Blooming in the Fall - Nature 100

- The Red Shoulder Hawk at Neighborhood – Part 2 - Nature 71

- The Rainbow Before Evening : Mushrooms Found in the Yard - Nature 101

- The Rainbow Before Evening : An Otter from a River - Nature 102

- The Rainbow Before Evening : Blooming of Flowers in the Autumn - Nature 103

A Box Turtle Passing Through the Yard - Nature 165

We saw a turtle sneaking around the yard for sometimes. We believe the guy is a box turtle. 

Image 01 - Sneaking around a yard.

As watchers of nature, we believe the turtle come from a nearby pond, a quite big pond, like a small lake. 

The pond is about 16 houses that surround it. Turtles come up on the bank often to sunbathe and female turtles bury their eggs.

Late in the afternoon many of them come up to the shore to eat bits of bread that some people hand feed to them.

We recognize many of those turtles, and then we have named a few of them. They look so cute.

Image 02 - Another turtle

Turtles need to be left in their domain. They have an area imprinted in them. They DO NOT do w    ell relocated.

# Previous postings:

- The Rainbow Before Evening : The Night Sky at our Neighborhood - Nature 96

- The Cypress Vine is one of Popular Flowers for Hummingbirds - Nature 97

- The Rainbow : The Wandering Tortoise at the Corner of City - Nature 98

- The Rainbow Before: Is a Chinese Pheasant more Wild than a Pet - Nature 99

- The Rainbow Before Evening : Plumeria Blooming in the Fall - Nature 100

Have there been UFO Sightings in our City?

At first, we are scary to see an unrecognized object flying over the sky nearby our house recently.

Image 01 - An unidentified Flying object

After closer look, we noticed the advertisement on it. Then, we are aware that the object was flying or floating over LSU football stadium and during the football game in the last season.

In one of games, there were 2 blimps, one for Netflix live and the NFL, the other was Dick”s sporting goods.

There was also a small plane flying with a banner. At one point while tailgating at football parking lots, the plane was so low We thought the pilot was going to land and get some food.

Image 02 - A corner of our city

The Pilot was probably thinking hard about a quick stop, because he saw how awesome the fans cook up fantastic Louisiana food.

Just kidding. lol

Image 03 - A blimp with advertisement

I believed you saw this kind of flying object in your area. Didn't you?

# Previous postings:

- The Rainbow Before Evening : Are Buff Orpington Chickens Excellent Pets? - Nature 93

- The Rainbow Before Evening : The Five-spotted Hawkmoth Caterpillar - Nature 94

- The Rainbow Before Evening : Spicy Food and Alzheimer's Disease – Part 1 - Alzheimer's 14

- The Rainbow Before Evening : The Life Cycle of Monarch Butterfly - Nature 95

- The Rainbow Before Evening : The Night Sky at our Neighborhood - Nature 96

Should Hay be 80% of a Rabbit's Diet? - Science 40

We used to have vegetable and fruit as main sources of food for our rabbit. Rabbits seem like fruits such as banana and blue berry.  

Image 01 - The rabbit consuming hay.

We gave the following vegetables routinely:

- cabbage

- spinach

- carrots

- lettuce

- and cucumbers

Now, we change our daily rabbit diets with 80% hay. 

Why?

Image 02 - A Dutch rabbit. 

So many people don't know that hay should be 80% of a rabbit's diet. Hay contains fiber, and without it the rabbit can easily get Gastrointestinal (GI) Stasis which is deadly.

Image 03 - Good eating rabbit

Do you know about Rabbit's diet?

# Previous postings:

- The Rainbow Before Evening : A Rooster on the Run - Nature 90

- The Rainbow Before Evening : The Wildflower at the Corner - Nature 91

- The Rainbow : The Eastern Box Turtle Visited Our Yard - Nature 92

- The Rainbow Before Evening : The Patty Pan Squash Seasons - Food 43

- The Rainbow : Are Buff Orpington Chickens Excellent Pets? - Nature 93