Actor Terence Stamp, who starred in the 1960s classics Far From the Madding Crowd and Modesty Blaise, said today at the Chelsea Flower Show that he welcomed the move towards organic gardening.

Terence said: "In the seventies, I arrived at an organic farm in Ibiza, and this really helped my knowledge of flowers, because of the use of companion flowers. I was interested to come to Chelsea this year because of the move towards organics at the show."

He said that at the height of his fame in the sixties he became interested in plants for the first time. "I grew up without a garden, only had a yard. So when I moved into the West End of London, Regent’s Park became my hanging out place. Wallflowers became my favourite flowers, because the planting looked like Persian carpets," he reminisced.