Salem Va Garden Club

05/18/2026

COME TUESDAY AFTERNOON! May 19, Main Street Salem, 5:30 p.m.! BRING YOUR FRIENDS, FAMILY! (conveniently timed between work hours and evening)

WHERE?
THE PARKING LOT OF (& BEHIND) THE DOWNTOWN HISTORIC PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH ON SALEM'S HISTORIC MAIN STREET (JUST FOR 20 TO 30 MINUTES)

WHY?
SUPPORT PRESERVATION OF OUR VALLEY & CITY'S HISTORIC RESOURCES, BUILDINGS & PROPERTIES!
IT WILL TAKE JUST A FEW MINUTES OF YOUR TIME--
Tuesday, May 19, 2026, 5:30 PM, Salem Presbyterian Church Parking Lot

WHO?
The Roanoke Valley Preservation Foundation 2026 Endangered Sites Announcement is helping raise the profile of 102 N. Market,
[image shown below], that we all have been speaking up & trying to save and for which we aim to provide a better future if we can prevent its DEMOLITION.

HOW DOES THIS AFFECT US?
SALEM has endured a RASH of abrupt demolitions since Summer 2025 (some on the part of the City of Salem), more recently (at the direction of Roanoke College). Sometimes our Valley loses potentially historic properties to the bulldozers of local developers, who often prefer to tear down existing Residential Single Family houses only to build MORE townhomes where they do not fit into the character of that neighborhood and raise the profit margin--but there are better ways to infill that CONTRIBUTE to the existing historic character of a neighborhood and can still contribute to healthy profit margins for developers (and we can share other ways to do that in a future POST).

THE MAIN ISSUES:
* MANY SUCH DEMOLITIONS can be due to CITY LEADERS & PROPERTY OWNERS WHO NEED ALL OF THE FACTS (not just the developer's viewpoint),
*AND a lack of Public Knowledge and/or lack of a PROCESS by which the public can have input on the potential of such properties to SERVE OUR COMMUNITIES IN POSITIVE WAYS.
*OFTEN, those making the decisions to DEMOLISH POTENTIALLY HISTORIC ARCHITECTURE DO NOT REALIZE THE POTENTIAL VALUE OF THAT PROPERTY TO OUR VALLEY'S CHARACTER & FUTURE.
*LEADERS & PROPERTY OWNERS OR DEVELOPERS ABSOLUTELY NEED ALL OF OUR INFORMATION & KNOWLEDGE.
THEY NEED TO BE REQUIRED TO DRAW THE PUBLIC INTO THE PROCESS EARLY.
*THOSE WHO DECIDE ON THE FUTURE OF A POTENTIALLY HISTORIC PROPERTY (OR OPEN ACREAGE AS WELL) ABSOLUTELY NEED TO BE WELL-INFORMED ABOUT THE POTENTIAL OF SUCH PROPERTIES TO SERVE THE CITY IN CREATIVE, POSITIVE WAYS BEFORE DEMOLITION DECISIONS ARE MADE.
*IT NEEDS TO BE A REQUIREMENT TO BRING IN THE EXPERTS on our VALLEY's HISTORY BEFORE SUCH DECISIONS ARE MADE.

***IT IS VITAL FOR OUR HISTORIC PRESERVATION CHARITIES, GROUPS, AND THAT SECTOR OF OUR VALLEY'S RESIDENTS WHO HAVE A KNOWLEDGE & INTEREST IN THE PROPER VALUE OF OUR HISTORIC AND NATURAL RESOURCES TO HAVE A PROPER OPPORTUNITY TO HAVE INPUT BEFORE SUCH DEMOLITIIONS HAVE BEEN DECIDED.

This event is BRIEF. PLEASE COME--BRING YOUR FRIENDS ALONG!
See you There!

05/14/2026

REMINDER--COME TODAY!
Councilman Holliday's COFFEE WITH COUNCIL
***TODAY--THURSDAY, May 14th 6-7:30 pm, Salem Public Library Community Room----

COME! SHARE! BRING OTHERS--
THIS IS YOUR CHANCE TO DISCUSS ISSUES AFFECTING YOU, YOUR HOME, CITY & FAMILY.
Bring any of the issues & questions we have raised over these last updates--

RARELY are there actual opportunities for Salem Residents to DIALOGUE WITH THEIR REPRESENTATIVES about issues concerning them.

GUEST LEADER INVITEES-- In addition to Councilman Holliday--

*Councilman Saunders,
*John Shaner (Dir. of Parks & Rec)
*Kevin Divers (Dir. Electric Dept.)

SEE YOU THERE!!!
(and yes, there is Coffee, and accompanying munchables)

05/07/2026

Long-Blooming Perennials--WHAT TO PLANT THAT IS RELIABLY LONG-BLOOMING & LASTS FOR YEARS!

53 likes. "Plant These NOW! 20 Longest-Blooming Perennials for NONSTOP Color All Year 🌼"

04/16/2026

COME, BRING OTHERS! TONITE! THURSDAY APRIL 16, 6 PM, SALEM PUBLIC LIBRARY

COFFEE WITH COUNCIL.

Bring YOUR ISSUES & QUESTIONS--There is a lot happening in Saem that could benefit from YOUR INPUT!

Hosted by Councilman Hunter Holliday--
Guests: City Manager Chris Dorsey & Vice Mayor Anne Marie Green.
____________________________

ALSO-- the VIRGINIA HOME & GARDEN TOUR WEEK IS NEARLY HERE--
SATURDAY APRIL 25TH--SALEM'S OWN NORTH BROAD STREET WILL BE FEATURED!

This is a special year for our Country's 250th, and the event is approaching its 100th year in a couple of years I believe. This week-long event, STATE-WIDE, happens over the course of a week--but in Salem it is just Saturday April 25th.
,,
FIVE HOMES & THEIR GARDENS ARE FEATURED ON NORTH BROAD STREET--VERY WALKABLE, AS THEY ARE EXTREMELY NEAR EACH OTHER.

PURCHASE ONE TICKET TO TOUR ALL FIVE HOMES WITH THEIR GARDENS.

IT IS A RAIN OR SHINE EVENT--BRING YOUR UMBRELLAS AND WEAR FLAT SHOES.

THE LINK TO PURCHASE TICKETS IS BELOW: THIS LINK TELLS YOU ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW,

You check in at the Farmers Market and get your wristband that gets you into all of the homes..
Your ticket is cheaper if you purchase it ahead of time. The Salem History Museum is one of the purchase locations. There are others.

Broad in Bloom: Historic Garden Week in Salem | Salem, VA 24153

Hope to see YOU at this evening's Coffee with Council!

And let's all support this marvelous effort that Virginia hs pulled together for nearly a CENTURY now!
So let's SPREAD THE WORD about BROAD IN BLOOM in Virginia's Historic Home & Garden Week 2026!

04/15/2026

TONITE! Wed, 6:30, Salem City Hall--COME, BRING OTHERS!
PLANNING COMMISSION PUBLIC HEARING ON A. BOONE 171 TOWNHOME DEVELOPMENT PROPOSED BUILDING CODE CHANGE TO BE LOCATED ON THE FORMER WHEELER 40 ACRES (RADIO TOWER ACREAGE) (NEARISH TO MASON CREEK & LAKESIDE NORTH OF E. MAIN)
ORIGINALLY SUBMITTED BUILDING PLAN, LEGAL ADVERT SHOWN.

SPEAK YOUR MIND, SHARE YOUR THOUGHTS WITH OUR LEADERS!
***Planning Commission Meeting will address a request for a CHANGE IN BUILDING CODE proposed by Alexander Boone to change Salem Building Code (REFERRING TO LANGUAGE IN THE NEWLY REVISED COMP PLAN--BEFORE CODE HAS BEEN WRITTEN) to allow Townhome Developments to decrease the distance by HALF between buildings in the curl of 171 dense townhomes slated for the former 40 acre Radio Station property north of East Main and near Mason Creek.

When Salem's New Comprehensive Plan was passed recently, Residents were assured during the "Vote FOR PASSAGE & APPROVAL" that Citizens' Concerns were unnecessary --concerns with its lack of teeth, its lack of details, and its strong signals that respect for EXISTING residential neighborhoods will NO LONGER EXIST in upcoming rewritten code--and that mixed residential and commercial would BE INVADING RESIDENTIAL NEIGHBORHOOODS NEARLY EVERYWHERE IN OUR DOWNTOWN NEIGHBORHOODS AND OTHER AREAS --with greater density everywhere--
Answers were not required before the vote, we were assured. We were fulfilling a governing requirement--it would not necessarily affect our development rules, our neighborhood protections.

***And now, one Roanoke Valley developer with multiple current ongoing developments in Salem has submitted a BUILDING CODE CHANGE REGARDING DISTANCE OF TOWNHOMES FROM ONE ANOTHER--HALVING THE DISTANCE--referring to language in the Newly Passed Comp Plan.

***THIS INITIALLY AFFECTS THE "WHEELER 40 ACRES" where the Radio Tower is for Q99. BUT WOULD THAT NOT THEN AFFECT TOWNHOME DEVELOPMENTS THROUGHOUT SALEM?
(And that development already allows up to 45 foot tall buildings I believe and the buildings curl around like a snail with no particular effort to "CREATE NEIGHBORHOOD").

The surrounding neighborhood showed up when the rezoning advertisements ran and the Public Hearings were held. They came to all of the Public Hearing and Vote Meetings and consistently filled the room, had many speakers voicing A VARIETY OF WELL-RESEARCHED concerns.

The VOTES DID NOT REFLECT THAT--the REZONING WAS PASSED QUICKLY AND OVERWHELMINGLY. THE CONCERNS WERE NOT ADDRESSED. THE VOICED & RECORDED PROMISE TO PUT A CONSERVATION EASEMENT ON THE RESERVED 20 ACRES OFFERED VERBALLY BY THE DEVELOPER WAS DELAYED (HAS IT NOW BEEN FULFILLED--OR NOT? WILL IT BE FULFILLED?)

POTENTIAL GOOD THINGS--(There IS to be a playground that surrounding neighborhoods can use as well. There is SUPPOSED TO BE RESERVED PROTECTED 20ish acres--these could be good things. Salem Leaders need to ensure they are honored.)

A TROUBLING TREND?
3 to 4 LARGE PARCELS OF SALEM OPEN-ACREAGE WERE LOST TO US AS POTENTIAL OPEN ACREAGE SUMMER OF 2025--REZONED IN ONE FELL SWOOP WITH QUICK SUMMER RUNS THROUGH PLANNING COMMISSION & CITY COUNCI. Summer 2025 was a bad year for rezoning open acreage (some of our last in Salem) for INFILL DENSE DEVELOPMENTS--without ANY PRE-DISCUSSIONS WITH SURROUNDING NEIGHBORHOOODS OR THE CITY RESIDENT POPULATION AS A WHOLE AS TO THE FUTURE BEST USE OF THESE PRECIOUS PARCELS of OPEN ACREAGE.

INFORMED TOO LATE!
RESIDENTS WERE BROUGHT IN TOO LATE IN THE PROCESS FOR THE PUBLIC TO BE AWARE, AND HAVE ANY INFLUENCE IN THE FUTURE USE OF THESE PARCELS.

WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT?
BECAUSE SALEM DOES NOT HAVE MUCH OPEN ACREAGE LEFT, AND FEW WAYS TO GROW LAND-WISE. WE ARE LAND-LOCKED.
Yet METHODS HAVE BEEN DEVELOPED THAT LEAVE OUT SALEM RESIDENTS AS TO THE ACTUAL URBAN PLANNING NEEDS FOR THE REMAINING OPEN ACREAGE IN OUR CITY.

HOW ARE SALEM RESIDENTS' COMMENT RIGHTS EFFECTIVELY BEING COMPROMISED?

*If rezoning occurs BROUGHT UP BY the well-known original owner--
*FOR THE DEVELOPER (who might or might not be Salem based--but is often Roanoke Valley based)--
*If the SPECTOR IS RAISED OF WHAT COULD GO THERE AS AN EXCUSE TO PUSH A POTENTIAL DEVELOPER/PURCHASER OF THAT LAND PARCEL THROUGH QUICKLY BEFORE EFFECTIVE PUBLIC INPUT CAN BE GATHERED & ASSESSED--
*BEFORE ANY DISCUSSION THAT INCLUDES SALEM RESIDENTS--
*OF OTHER POSSIBLE BEST USES FOR THIS RARE & FAST DISAPPEARING OPEN ACREAGE IN OUR LAND-TRAPPED CITY--
*THEN SOMETIMES THE MORE LOCAL DEVELOPER WHO NOW HAS REZONED LAND THAT HE DID NOT HAVE TO GO THROUGH THE TROUBLE OF REZONING--
*CAN EVEN SUBCONTRACT TO AN OUTSIDE BUILDER TO ACTUALLY BUILD THE DEVELOPMENT--A BUILDER FROM OUTSIDE OF THIS AREA, WHO MAY HAVE ISSUES THAT ARE CREATING LEGAL CHALLENGES ELSEWHERE--
* BUT LOCAL RESIDENTS DO NOT KNOW ABOUT THESE BUILDER ISSUES, THIS "MANAGED" PROCESS AND THE POTENTIAL PROBLEMS AND INHERENT FLAWS IN THIS "MANEUVERED" SYSTEM.

*****THIS "managed/maneuvered process" SUPPORTS the WISHES of the DEVELOPERS OVER the NEEDS OF SALEM's URBAN PLANNING and the NEEDS--OFTEN LEGITIMATE CONCERNS & DESIRES--of SALEM's RESIDENTS.

COME IF YOU CAN TONITE! SHARE INFO WITH YOUR CONTACTS--
COME TO THE NEXT TWO COUNCIL MEETINGS--
SPEAK TONITE AT THE PUBLIC HEARING,
SPEAK AT THE COUNCIL MEETING PUBLIC HEARING.
SIGN UP TO SPEAK BEFORE THE SECOND VOTE AT COUNCIL.
SEND IN COMMENTS TO COUNCIL
SEND LETTERS TO EDITORS.
e-mails below:
__________________________________
(Write your comments once--send to all! 🙂)

CITY COUNCIL emails:
Mayor Renée Turk
Vice Mayor Anne Marie Green
Councilman Byron "Randy" Foley
Councilman Hunter Holliday
Councilman John Saunders

PLANNING COMMISSION EMAILS:
Denise "Dee" King – [email protected]
Reid Garst – [email protected]
Jackson Beamer – [email protected]
Nathan Routt – [email protected]
Mark Henrickson – [email protected]

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT:
Econ Dev. Director Tommy Miller, & the general Dept. emails:
[email protected]
[email protected]

04/14/2026

NORTH BROAD STREET IN BLOOM!
Virginia Home & Garden Week tours FIVE iconic North Broad Street Homes & Gardens Saturday April 25, 2026! COME! INVITE YOUR FRIENDS!

Your ticket price goes to a most WORTHY cause-- restorations of historic and even our President's gardens (i.e., Mt. Vernon, Monticello, Madison's home gardens... and even historic building preservation efforts over the years as well.). The Virginia Home & Garden Tour is coming up on 100 years-- Be a part of that ENERGY!.

Our own Salem Garden Club members are helping as tour docents in our N. Broad homes; and with those distinctive floral arrangements that add the final touch to the home tours.

CHECK OUT THIS informative Salem Times Register article for details/tour hours:

Aila Boyd One of Salem’s most picturesque historic neighborhoods will take center stage April 25 as Historic Garden Week brings its 2026 Roanoke tour to North Broad Street for a special walking event, “Broad in Bloom.” The self-guided house and garden tour, hosted by the Mill Mountain Garden C...

04/14/2026

IS SALEM GARDEN CLUB FOR YOU?

If you are interested in joining the Salem Garden Club-- come meet us & find out what we are about!

Standard Meetings are held third Wednesdays at 10 a.m. (social time, 10:30 program begins) in the annex of the historic Salem Presbyterian Church on SALEM'S Historic Downtown Main Street....
We sometimes have guest speakers to help us garden WELL--or we learn from garden-related demonstrations, often with light refreshment....We usually offer a flower "arranging" meeting each year--sometimes just before a holiday so you end up with a lovely floral offering to decorate your home. We have meetings in someone's garden or we can tour nearby gardens, or visit sites with homes/gardens. And, we enjoy Holiday and Spring lunch events sometimes in nearby gardens or that are garden-themed.

We often share valley-wide information with each other on events or on topics of concern to those who enjoy gardening, nature and related topics. And we usually have one or two charitable projects that we support in various ways. We have contributed to landscaping for Habitat for Humanity houses, donated to efforts such as tree-planting like Penny Pines. And, at times, Salem Garden Club has participated in ongoing landscape or upkeep at places like historic Preston Place, or our local library or History Museum. So signs of our Club's efforts are scattered across our Community.

You can email Stella Reinhard for info on specific meetings at [email protected].🌱🌱🌱

(Photo: My Century Ash Tree awakens in Spring against a vivid sky!)

02/25/2026

My Salem Gardening Friends,

This video article on artistic gardens is right up our alley...Enjoy! (Click the link)

🌿 Step into a world that feels straight out of a fantasy movie!In this video, we explore 30 of the most beautiful gardens on Earth—from mystical Asian lands...

02/19/2026

My North Side Herb Garden is a fairly shady Garden. The half of the beds nearest the house (and in the SHADE of the house) are an opportunity to experiment with SHADE-LOVING edible plants. (I have stretched my Herb Garden Rules to allow for plants such as strawberries already.)

I spotted this video discussing SHADE-LOVING plants that might do well in my shady North Garden. So, I am going to also try some of the 10 plants discussed in this video.

I am stretching the rules again to include mainly salad fixings...which I think are close in SPIRIT to herbs... Another advantage of expanding my Herb garden to allow salad fixings as well, is that the door to my Herb Garden is off my Kitchen where we prepare meals.

Could these plants work for you in YOUR shady spots?

Enjoy! (Just click the picture or link.)

FREE In-Depth Gardening Guides: https://haven-gardening.kit.com/newsletterThis video was inspired by home gardening techniques I learnt from Epic Gardening, ...

02/18/2026

***REMINDER! COME! BRING OTHERS! Councilman Holliday's "Coffee with Council" TODAY!
THURSDAY, FEB 19, 6 TO 7:30 PM,
SALEM PUBLIC LIBRARY Community Room

THE SNOW & ICE HAVE THAWED, MY FRIENDS! You can get out of your driveways now.... 🙂
This is your chance to interact, DISCUSS ISSUES with your Leaders--There are usually several in attendance.

FUTURE FORUM:
***Also, MARK YOUR CALENDARS--
Thursday, MARCH 12, 6-7:30 pm,
"Coffee with Council"
Salem Library, Community Room

***SAVING PRESTON PLACE INTO THE FUTURE! (Image follows)
Monday's COUNCIL AGENDA (not public yet) should have an item moving forward to protect Preston Place, the historic brick Building (shown below) on West Main Street with its 9.5 acres. (This is the "House that Davy Crockett & Andrew Jackson visited. That Napoleon's Grandsons stayed at.) The vision is to protect this historic structure, and create something special with it and its acreage. That vision is being developed and will be shared over time.

To speak at City Council before the meeting about its protection, sign up by noon Friday at the following link:
(It takes seconds to sign up, fill out form, mark the appropriate date--in this case, the second February meeting, and list a topic with not too much info to give yourself room to maneuver, list your phone number, click send). Here is the online link to sign up to speak):

Form Center • Public Comment Submission Form
(copy & paste into browser if the url is not linked)

AND...Please COME & BE A SUPPORTIVE AUDIENCE IN FAVOR OF SAVING THIS STRUCTURE INTO THE FUTURE.

***FINAL NOTE--IN DANGER OF DEMOLITION!
102 N. Market Street house
(SHOWN BELOW--Look closely--note the Salem Historic Register medallion posted by the front door).

This historic brick building is a pre-Civil War (or antebellum) mid-1800s brick structure with a gracious white front porch typical of that era--
(As shown in an 1850s Edward Byer painting of Salem showing many brick structures with single and double white porches--shown below).

102 N. Market boasts a pair of end chimneys and an English Bond brick structure built from on-site made bricks, and this building was built by the Deyerle brothers and is shown on an 1873 map of Salem and Roanoke College (shown below--enlarge for detail)--

The College has offered the structure to a party who will move it to another location--and that offer has been responded to to save the building's future, and is in process of being negotiated, . . . . which is SOMETHING to celebrate--

HOWEVER, Historic homes retain the MOST HISTORIC CONTEXT in their original locations.
This building is an historic PART of the historic Roanoke College Campus, the historic Downtown Main Street and the historic and potentially historic neighborhoods that are nearby.

Many people are now working on finding funding for a restoration of and creative future for this building now, and, in its original location this building is surrounded by 3 National Register Historic Districts and a multitude of National Trust historic standalone buildings (see previous updates for more detail).

THIS HISTORIC STRUCTURE is ALREADY LOCATED in the midst of SALEM's MOST HISTORIC AREA--THIS is where this building belongs. So, while we are now working to be able to move the building to save it, we still hope that Roanoke College's stance on this issue can be informed by experts and the public.

***This is moving fast--PLEASE SEND COMMENTS (however brief) to Roanoke College's Board of Trustees via their Roanoke College liaison Ryan King--

His email: [email protected] (copy & paste to use)

(Request that your comments to the entire Board of Trustees, & RC President Shushok)

Below is a photo of 102 N. Market from a recent Channel 7 news clip, kitty-corner from the Presbyterian Church facing Market along Clay Street...just one visible block from the Old Post Office crossroads in Salem's historic downtown.

THANK YOU! SEE YOU AT THE FORUM!