Why are these folks gathering in our yard?

      What are these people doing in our yard. Looking for a rocket launch? Looking for an eclipse?
No they are having a happy hour that started at 8 PM., waiting for the flowers to start blooming.

       I heard of night blooming flowers, but have never seen  any. We had seen a few bloom for the passed couple of nights. Then we  saw about 30 to 40 buds ready to open, on our live oak tree and the palm tree next to the oak. We found out about the tree blooming on the garden and pond tour we had taken the week before. We have this snake like vine climbing on our live oak and palm with what looked like tiny cotton balls all over the branches. At first the buds were smaller, but can't find any pictures with them when there were tiny. You can see them breaking out of their "cotton" like bud.

 

 

 

 We asked a gardener at one of the tour house that had a vine like ours and asked what they were.
We  where told about the vine. They seem to go by many differ names, the preferred one is barbed wire cactus, also sword pear, triangle cactus and night blooming cereus. We are not positive of the name. Below are some of the buds ready to open.

      Told a few neighbors, and they told a few and so on. Many people came and went. Even when we went to bed we saw someone out in our yard taking pictures. The flowers only last for one night.

It was like watching a time elapse movie . Your could see them opening, and it almost was like you could hear them opening. Some were about the size of a dinner plate.  Every night for the passed two weeks we have been treated to this wonderful show of nature. . What a thrill. Folks down here will do anything for a happy hour. no matter what time it starts or ends, which was about 11 pm.