Melville is full of interesting houses, lived in by interesting people. I’m slowly integrating myself into the neighborhood but I haven’t had the chance to visit many other Melville homes yet. So when Chris Green, a tour operator who lives around the corner, invited us over to see his backyard jungle, I jumped at the chance.
A sea of mint-scented flowers in Chris’ garden.
The defining feature of most houses in Melville is their gardens. And because of all the heavy rain we’ve had the gardens are growing like mad.
Similar to our house, Chris’ house has so many trees and shrubs growing around it that you can barely see the house itself.
Chris’ one-year-old grandson. He’s a small person but the enormity of the vegetation makes him look even smaller.The garden was filled with interesting artifacts like this buffalo skull. Apparently Chris, who is an experienced wilderness trails guide among many other things, had an altercation with the buffalo that eventually led to the buffalo’s demise. I’m not sure of the details but I thought the skull made a nice picture.Chris’ property also includes a one-room B&B. It’s pretty amazing – I would like to live there myself if I didn’t have my own awesome Melville house. If you’re looking for a place to stay in Melville, let me know and I’ll give you the details.
I’ll pass along more Melville garden photos as I discover them.
Quick post-script: In addition to riotous garden plants, Melville summer rains also bring large, scary insects.
This cockroach has been hanging out in our bathroom since last night. I won’t be showering until he departs. Photo courtesy of Joe: I’m too scared to get close enough to take a good pic.Joe convinced me to stand in the shower to provide context. It was against my better judgement but I did it for the sake of the blog.
I hesitated over the ’like’ button because of the last bit - I’m shuddering as I type. In Britain, seeing a cockroach means your house is dirty; in South Africa, it means the beast fancied an airing. Horrible, horrible things! You should have done a seperate post: I’ve forgotten what the first bit was about I’m consumed with the eurgghhhhh~+ftrre…
Melville sure is looking green - all this rain does pay off in the end. I just love homes that have such tranquil gardens. I have had to learn to cope with the bugs since my relationship ended - I am getting quite good at it now and can almost touch all of them and if not, I have ways of catching and removing them. That’s not to say that I don’t shriek while I am doing it :)
It’s amazing what you can train yourself to do out of necessity!
Joe finally stopped torturing me and removed the bug. If it were my responsibility I think I would have whacked it with a shoe, but he opened the window and gently put it outside.
A very beautiful garden and well established. I love the buffalo skull, remember me of the moose’s and bear ones i use to have everywhere to the great despair of some peoples
The bug is sure disgusting, like any other it can be caught with a glass jar and a piece of thin but rigid cardboard then you slide under the bug after you caught it under the jar. I used that method often but never with that thing.
I hope you got rid of it, i heard they make good pets to some. :D
Thanks Lisa. That kid is adorable so it wasn’t hard to get a good pic of him.
Todd - 11 January 2011 at 15:53
God is that kid cute, and he has one enormous head! Love this post! Reminds me of all the mint that grew in my parent’s garden growing up in Upstate New York! We get quite a bit of rain there too (and snow, and really any precipitation)!
That garden is gorgeous and you captured it wonderfully! If I owned this house the cute B&B would be my personal retreat, not to be shared with anyone.
Ooh, I would like to sit in that garden. That second photo has me envious! Apart from the mint, what other smells did you pick up on?
The cockroach looks about as big as the ones we have here, only ours are a brownish-red colour. My cat is wonderful with getting rid of them. And I probably shouldn’t tell you how my mom handles them ;-)
He also has lemon verbana…can’t remember what else. It was really beautiful.
chris green - 6 February 2011 at 10:39
thanks for the comments about the garden, it is a treat as the trees have grown so haas the garden changed, we have lavender, roses, rosemary and several fynbos plants as well as Lebombo aloes that give off scents. The SA plants seem to like the rain, The aloes have a pepper aroma after ran and remind me of when I worked in the lowveld and crossed the escarpment in the mist. The fynbos remind me of hikes in the Cape. The babe is a treat! He is full of chat and some words. He loves getting us to do a mexican wave. He runs our lives, naturally!
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I hesitated over the ’like’ button because of the last bit - I’m shuddering as I type. In Britain, seeing a cockroach means your house is dirty; in South Africa, it means the beast fancied an airing. Horrible, horrible things! You should have done a seperate post: I’ve forgotten what the first bit was about I’m consumed with the eurgghhhhh~+ftrre…
Hahahaha! The bug was a last-minute addition.
Melville sure is looking green - all this rain does pay off in the end. I just love homes that have such tranquil gardens.
I have had to learn to cope with the bugs since my relationship ended - I am getting quite good at it now and can almost touch all of them and if not, I have ways of catching and removing them. That’s not to say that I don’t shriek while I am doing it :)
It’s amazing what you can train yourself to do out of necessity!
Joe finally stopped torturing me and removed the bug. If it were my responsibility I think I would have whacked it with a shoe, but he opened the window and gently put it outside.
A very beautiful garden and well established. I love the buffalo skull, remember me of the moose’s and bear ones i use to have everywhere to the great despair of some peoples The bug is sure disgusting, like any other it can be caught with a glass jar and a piece of thin but rigid cardboard then you slide under the bug after you caught it under the jar. I used that method often but never with that thing. I hope you got rid of it, i heard they make good pets to some. :D
I’m pleased to say the bug has been banished. I’m fortunate to live with someone who isn’t afraid of large insects :)
Chris has a really stunning garden - looks like it’s in the tropics somewhere.
Really like the photo with the little boy.
Thanks Lisa. That kid is adorable so it wasn’t hard to get a good pic of him.
God is that kid cute, and he has one enormous head! Love this post! Reminds me of all the mint that grew in my parent’s garden growing up in Upstate New York! We get quite a bit of rain there too (and snow, and really any precipitation)!
Thanks Todd. Hope all is well with you and Klong.
That garden is gorgeous and you captured it wonderfully! If I owned this house the cute B&B would be my personal retreat, not to be shared with anyone.
I know! I was ready to move in. Thanks for reading :)
The bug is REALLY big. Does he have any relatives still inhabiting your house?
I can only hope that the answer is no.
Ooh, I would like to sit in that garden. That second photo has me envious! Apart from the mint, what other smells did you pick up on?
The cockroach looks about as big as the ones we have here, only ours are a brownish-red colour. My cat is wonderful with getting rid of them. And I probably shouldn’t tell you how my mom handles them ;-)
He also has lemon verbana…can’t remember what else. It was really beautiful.
thanks for the comments about the garden, it is a treat as the trees have grown so haas the garden changed, we have lavender, roses, rosemary and several fynbos plants as well as Lebombo aloes that give off scents. The SA plants seem to like the rain, The aloes have a pepper aroma after ran and remind me of when I worked in the lowveld and crossed the escarpment in the mist. The fynbos remind me of hikes in the Cape. The babe is a treat! He is full of chat and some words. He loves getting us to do a mexican wave. He runs our lives, naturally!