Kiwi resilience through COVID-19 has been rewarded as part of New Zealand Flowers Week.
Most of us have had it tough during 2020, and after two lockdowns big colourful blooms have been used to brighten up the days of thousands of New Zealanders across the country today.
Adults, kids and even our furry friends wrapped their hands around 50,000 free flowers.
A colourful delivery was also made to Auckland's Jetpark Quarantine Facility alongside a floral installation reading the word 'resilience'.
Psychologist Sara Chatwin says after the year we've had, we deserve it.
"Nobody had been through a pandemic that I was seeing, so it was something people were really unsure how to navigate. Certainly, people were saying things to me like - I've never been this down"
A new study on New Zealand attitudes and values found 27 percent of us felt distressed during lockdown.
Wellington florist Dave Channing was among them.
Not only was his business hard, but he also lost his wife from a brain bleed.
"I found her at home on a Sunday after I got back from work ... and look it was, it was a difficult time"
So he threw himself into his work, and is now rewarding others for their resilience too.
"Flowers can help with so many different emotions".
And they did the trick today, with many Kiwis elated with the bright gesture.
"I was blown away"
"Oh it's made my day"
Chatwin says as it turns out, we're quite a hardy bunch.
"We can all be negatively impacted on during these times, but there's a percentage of people who will grow".
Just like the beautiful flowers on display today.
For more information on NZ Flowers Week click here.
