Grassroot Grannies have been digging up their gardens for 17 years, selling thousands of
ferns, hostas and colourful garden art, raising $110,000 for their beleaguered African sisters.
By Sheila Brady
Maggie Armstrong is unrepentantly addicted to gardening.
The 87-year-old mother of three, grandmother to six and loving matriarch to four, almost five
great grandchildren, laughs easily, remembers spending 20 happy hours a week in her Kanata
garden.
Maggie Armstrong would see her husband, Les, off to work in the morning, then head to the
garden in her pyjamas. Duffy, the couple’s faithful westie, was close on her heels.
“Les would come home for lunch at 11:45 a.m. and I would be in the garden. The breakfast
dishes would still be on the table,” says Maggie. “I loved it.”
Maggie hosted the first Grassroot Grannies fundraising plant sale on Mother’s Day
Weekend in 2007, with hundreds checking out her garden and the flower beds of nearby
neighbours.
Months of preparations led up to the sale, a fundraising idea hatched at the Chelsea home of
Grassroots Grannies chair Sue Cousineau in October 2006.
These were advocacy days for the GGs, inspired by politician and veteran diplomat Stephen
Lewis and his commitment to support African grannies as the United Nation’s Secretary-
General’s Special Envoy to HIV/AIDS in Africa from 2001 to 2006. Stephen and his daughter,
Ilana, created a foundation to work with Africans grannies struggling with the devastating
epidemic.
“Three years later, Stephen and his daughter formed the Grandmothers to Grandmothers
Campaign, enlisting a worldwide network of older women, primarily from Canada, working to
support African grandmothers,” says Sue.
“It was about friendship and raising money for African grannies doing something we all loved,”
remembers Sue. “We all had gardens.”
The first 2007 sale was a masterclass in organization, with many meetings, phone calls and
countless work sessions to make birdhouses and garden art for the May sale.
GG teams descended on their own gardens, digging up hostas, daisies and grasses, potting
them for the sale, raising a smooth $6,585.
“Not bad for digging up each other’s plants and selling them,” says Maggie Armstrong, who
also hosted the sale in 2008. “It was a busy day,” remembers Maggie, who welcomed African Grannies to the first sale in 2007. “They sat in front of our fireplace and the dryer was busy all morning because it was so cold and wet.”
The Plant Sale and Marketplace, powered by grannies in their 80s, has raised an impressive
$110,000 in the past 17 years (COVID cancelled two years of sales) and an impressive $125
million, after adding in the GG’s hugely successful long-distance bike rides, fall book
exchange and craft fundraisers.
“The plant sale is anchored in the love of flowers and friendship,” says Martha Bohm, who also
hosted the Plant and Marketplace Sale at her Beaverbrook home.
“We are always scared about the weather, but it is good to see people year after year. We
connect with the community, offer expert advice and tell them about Stephen Lewis. It is one of our great annual events,” says Martha, who has been selling unique greeting cards at the sale since the first year.
Longtime GG member Judy Laughton also hosted the sale at her Beaverbrook home, donating
hundreds of plants when she downsized in recent years. “We know the plants are good and will thrive because they came out of our gardens,” says Lina Woods, chair of the 2025 Plant Sale and Marketplace.
The GGs dropped the local garden tours a number of years ago and eight years ago found a
highly visible location for the popular spring sale at Carol and Arnold Redmond’s Knudson
Drive home in Kanata Lakes.
Last May, there was a line-up of keen shoppers and four hours later, unclaimed flowers were
picked up by the Unitarian GoGoos for their plant sale. It was another successful year with
$8,440 in the bank for African grannies and new homes for hardy Kanata flowers and helpings
of sassy garden art.
Grassroot Grannies Annual Plant Sale & Market Place
When: Saturday, May 10, 2025
Where: 65 Knudson Drive
Time: 8 a.m. to noon
What you will find: Hardy perennials, herbs, veggie seedlings, pretty pots,
hand-crafted garden art, gently used garden tools, raffle table, greeting cards
Advice: Horticulturists on site for plant care & landscape design
Payments: Cash, cheques, credit cards.
Rain or shine, the sale goes on.
