I'm John Batchelor. To the south of France, I'm in Constable writing for Barons and Fox and other distinguished

publications, beginning with the climate of South of France, which is paradise. It is springtime

here in the North Temperate Zone. All of us are enjoying fair weather now and again when it's not

raining. Simon, we last spoke and and your irises were in bloom,

and you're walking with Juno and Lyra.

What is in bloom this week?

How does the climate strike you?

Good day to you.

Good day to you, John.

Thanks having me on the show.

Today has been beautiful.

The low temperature of 53 Fahrenheit,

and the high, 73, and it's been sunny with light breezes.

The dogs are very happy. They've been rolling around in the garden, which is quite an extensive garden, and getting themselves dirty and hacking us off having to wash them later, which we will be

doing. So that's really nice. And the flowers we're seeing actually include a tree. So we've got

roses, blossing-a-ming, and we've got irises doing the same thing. And we've also got an acacia tree, which is blooming with pollen.

And it's just fantastic.

Tell me about the plums.

What condition?

They're still quite small.

They're still maybe about twice the size of an M&M each.

This is the Mirabelle ones that are bright yellow. We would hope to get

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