14 Garden Arbor
Jule and John Gordon (l and r) in their usual seats in the rose garden behind University Avenue in Berkeley. Photo: Eden Teller Every Saturday, John Gordon and his father, Jule Gordon, stop by Peet’s before heading over to a hidden rose garden behind a row of stores on University Avenue. The garden is a “labor of love,” said John, and part of a development of six beautifully restored old buildings which, together, form a peaceful sanctuary in downtown Berkeley that tends to put a smile on visitors’ faces when they discover it for the first time. Most of what the father and son do, John said, is sit on a bench and “bullshit.” But his father often finds a flower or two to bring Daisy, his girlfriend, and, after a bloom – there are two or three a year – the pair always trim the dead flowers together, a process called deadheading. The rose garden cottage, when first purchased and now. Photos: Gordon Commercial (left) and Eden Teller (right) Some of the people that come across the garden h...