Onto greener pastures DAME JUDI’S SECOND ACT

Search online for the words “Dame Judi Dench” and “trees”, and there is a veritable forest of words written about her passion for them, alongside photographs of her stroking bark and even listening, with a sort of ear trumpet, to the sounds they make.

Also a staunch monarchist, it was hardly surprising therefore that Dame Judi was given the honour of offi cially kicking off the Chelsea Flower Show, which includes major exhibits to mark the Queen’s platinum jubilee and highlight the climate crisis.

Dame Judi, who said the show looked “as always, immaculate”, cut a garland at the Royal Horticultural Society event, held for the first time in autumn rather than spring this year because of Covid, to formally open the Queen’s Green Canopy Garden.

It is the largest plot at the show, featuring 21 trees and more than 3500 plants to highlight the importance of trees and woodland – something Dame Judi knows a lot about.

The Oscar-winning actress, 86, has turned the 2.4-hectare