WINNIPEG -- Interest in house plants boomed in 2020 largely due to the pandemic, and in Winnipeg, two women helped many find comfort through plants.
Riel Lynch and Jannica Reyes are the founders of the "WPG Free Plants" Instagram page.
The pair gave away tons of free plants and created an online plant care community through the account.
"Even in the last week or so, I've seen how much the community has grown," said Lynch.
The pair made the page to help people maintain their mental health while stuck at home.
"There thousands of people who are finding connections through maintaining and keeping houseplants and I'd say a very large portion of them found houseplant this year in 2020," Lynch said.
While the New Year will hopefully bring about the end of the pandemic, Lynch doesn't think the popularity of plant care is going anywhere.
"I have always sent plants as gifts to my friends and family and the results are I've turned people into collecting houseplants," she said.
Lynch and Reyes are already planning their next plant giveaway, with hopes to plan larger events later in the year.
"With COVID restrictions hopefully loosening and it becoming safer for people to gather in person, we will want to gather in a larger scale and maybe have outside events during the summer," Lynch said.
More information can be found on the Instagram page.
