My name is George Higgins and I am 26 years old. I am currently studying at the University of Central England for a degree in nursing.

On leaving school I studied for three years for my HND in horticulture.  After completing my studies I ran my own business for three years selling pet and garden supplies to the public. I have recently sold my business to return to studies. Fortunately this has given me more time to spend pursuing my passion for growing winter hardy cacti.

 The cactus obsession

I started collecting cacti when I was 7 years old and I have had the bug ever since. I was ordered to move my cacti collection from the house to a heated greenhouse by my parents due to the sheer size of my growing collection. In 1994 the heating system broke down in the greenhouse and I was devastated at the prospect of losing my prized collection. To my sheer delight I was amazed to find that at least 70 per cent of my collection survived the freezing winter temperatures. This prompted me to research the hardiness of different cacti.

In 1995, I was able to buy some hardy cacti seed on the internet which I germinated. The following year these seedlings were planted out into my first outdoor cacti bed. This bed continues to thrive with no protection from the winter elements which bring constant fluctuations in extremes of temperature (minus 9˚ to plus 11˚ Celsius) accompanied by very wet conditions.