"I think he gave it to me because, like a cactus, he probably thought I was a bit of a prickly old bugger."
So he plonked it down in the backyard, with a plan to take it away on his next trip to the tip.
However, he forgot about it and it started to grow in the garden.
This week, the unusual gift had turned into a thing of great beauty, and Mr Wilson was quietly chuffed with it.
"It looks like `Jack and the beanstalk' growing out the back. It's a bloody beauty.
"It's over the roof of the house.
"We've always had flowers on it, but I've never seen it flower like this before.
"I'd say on the one stem, we've probably got about 20-25 creamy white flowers on it, and one of them is the size of a dinner plate.
"You've got to see it to believe it."
He said it had actually turned out to be quite beautiful, despite its large spikes.
"So you've got to be careful when you go near it or handle it."
Mr Wilson said he was not sure what had caused the cactus to produce much bigger flowers this year.
"I'm not a gardener myself, but I like gardening.
"I'm not sure if it has something to do with the warmer, wetter weather over the past year, or the mixture of mulch and Number 8 compost, or maybe it is finally coming to maturity."
Whatever it was, it was thriving.
The flowers would only last about a week before they died and dropped off. So, like his neighbours, he was admiring them for as long as they last.
john.lewis@odt.co.nz
