Embracing Change

Plant-lover Michael Gordon, an experimentalist of sorts, appreciates the ephemeral nature of his gardens.

April 23, 2025

Robin Sweetser, Morgan Karanasios, Photographer,

The lower garden is an extension of the house. Protected from view, it is contained within the yew hedge on the left and granite blocks of the old barn foundation on the right.

Optometrist Michael Gordon has been living on a small, in-town lot in Peterborough for 35 years and gardening there for the last 30. He has made great use of every inch of space, filling the property with the unusual plants he has an eye for. The gardens are not just about flowers — which are fleeting — but full of contrasting foliage forms, colors and textures that bring interest to the space all season long.

But as often happens, forces beyond our control can wreak havoc on our carefully planned and managed landscapes.

Since the Gordons’ property is on a steep slope, terracing has been crucial for supporting the upper levels. An old barn foundation that played an important role in holding the street-level gardens in place while defining an enclosed garden room on the lower level had started to weaken. Left to its own devices it could have collapsed, causing major destruction. Gordon bravely called in the pros at DS Stone & Garden Scapes to assess the situation. Repairing it meant tearing out a huge number of established plants to make way for the heavy machinery needed to stabilize and rebuild the granite block foundation.

Granite steps lead down from the top terrace to the lower garden. An opening in the hedge gives a peek of what’s to come.

Always an optimist, Gordon viewed it as an opportunity to make some interesting changes, such as adding a new screened porch and creating a new look for the upper and middle gardens.

Top Terrace

The upper garden now has the look of an orderly, refined meadow with low, tough plants like autumn moor grass (Seslaria autumnalis) interplanted with tall and airy plants such as verbena bonariensis, burnet and gomphrena. Other favorite annuals are melianthus, tall blue sage (Salvia uliginosa) and bright red “Mahoghany Splendor” hibiscus. Some of the original plants, such as “Magenta Star” dahlias, were reused, but Gordon also had a wish list of things he has been wanting to grow, including some new asters.

: A frequent visitor to gardens here and abroad, Gordon first saw dahlia “Magenta Star” at Gravetye Manor in Sussex and has been growing it ever since.

“I am trying 15 to 20 great asters popular in England and France to select the best combinations I can,” he says. “Some of my new favorites are ‘Coombe Fishacre’, ‘Glow in the Dark’, and ‘Ochtendgloren’,” he says, “and I have a mass of ‘October Skies’ asters along the picket fence that faces out to the sidewalk.”

Reliable daylilies are also making a comeback. “I am adding more of the ones I used to like and some new ones too, such as ‘August Flame’ and ‘Autumn Minaret’ to create a long season of easy care in the border and add pops of color from June to September.” He is interested in making the garden more resilient while having it look as good as possible for as long as possible.

Responding to Climate Change

“I have been paying attention to climate change, especially concerning water, by picking plants that can tolerate heat and dry conditions and paying more attention to natives,” Gordon says. To limit watering, he has been confining his fussy favorites — those that require more moisture — to containers and window boxes. There is less lawn now, just green paths between the beds and fewer roses. Only Rosa villosa, the apple rose, which is not bothered by bugs; “William Baffin,” a hardy climber in the Canadian Explorer series; gray-leaved Rosa glauca; and a red-leaved Rosa rubrifolia remain. “My mantra is, ‘If you pout during drought, I’m taking you out,’” he says with a laugh.

Middle Garden

The top terrace is the public face of the garden. This whole area had to be dug up during the wall renovation.

This area cannot be seen from the street and is contained by the granite foundation wall on one side and by a tall yew hedge on the opposite side. In front of each are deep border gardens. “I have been playing with heights in the mixed borders, planting more shrubs and grasses along with big plants and fun things like bearded iris from the English plantsman/artist Cedric Morris, and cultivars of orange and red geums,” he says. “A new diaphanous, see-through plant in the lower garden is palm-leaf marshmallow (Althaea cannabina), which is quite tall and airy, with pale pink flowers.” To contrast with the gray granite wall, he has planted red-leafed shrubs including spicebush (Calycanthus floridus) “Burgundy Spice,” purple smoke bush (Cotinus coggygria), and elderberry (Sambucus nigra) “Black Lace.” On the other side, he has planted grays including Salix “Nancy Saunders” and Rosa glauca against the green hedge.

Exuberant alliums, purple gomphrena, variegated yucca and volunteer nicotianas contrast with the tightly sheared boxwood balls behind the granite pillar.

Extending the Season

For good winter structure he has added tall architectural plants including native rattlesnake master (Eryngium yuccafolium); giant yellow hyssop (Agastache nepetoides), another native that blooms in late summer; false hellebore (Veratrum nigrum), which will be covered with thousands of tiny, star-shaped, black blossoms in July; and giant milk parsley (Peucedanum verticillare), which can grow up to seven feet tall and self-seeds. “It will add spontaneity to the garden,” says Gordon, “since it doesn’t always pop up where it was before!” After many years designing both public and private gardens, he appreciates the ephemeral nature of gardens, where change is the only constant.