'Garden' buddies Bette Midler and 50 Cent spread green word

They're not the most obvious of pairings, but Bette Midler and rapper 50 Cent were arm in arm at a fundraising event in New York on Tuesday - united by their enthusiasm for cleaning up the Big Apple.

The pair were taking part in an annual spring picnic hosted by the New York Restoration Project, a non-profit organisation founded in 1995 by Bette to create and restore the city's parks and community gardens. And 33-year-old 'Fiddy', as the actress calls him, had been roped in to perform a short sing-along.

It's not the first time the pair have collaborated. Bette got 50 Cent – real name Curtis Jackson - on board last year to front a clean-up of a public garden in his childhood neighbourhood in Queens.

"He's a give-back kind of guy," reveals 63-year-old Bette. "We came to him and proposed that we renovate the garden… and he said: 'Where do I sign?'."

Guests supporting the cause, which has orchestrated the planting of 200,000 trees in the city over the past two years, were treated to a BBQ of organic chicken, ribs and macaroni cheese.

Photo: © Rex