Fresh Saffron Crocus bulbs have arrived and are ready to plant. There are firm and recently harvested in this spring.
In Turkey, there are piles of fresh saffron threads available in the Spice Market and the cost is cheaper than here in our grocery stores, but still expensive. The best Saffron comes from Iran where these beauties bloom in the fall. There is also a lighter orange variety of Saffron than is cheaper but I don’t know where it comes from.
Now it would take a great number of these small, and beautiful bulbs to give the kinds of quantities that are seen in the foreign spice markets like the one below:
But having you own source for a small amount of your own fresh saffron crocus is a treat!
The saffron that flavors many dishes is from the strands or stamens of this crocus flower. It is a very expensive spice because of the hand labor in picking enough of these stamens to sell commercially, but at home, you can pick fresh stamens for your cooking. Cutting or picking the stamens while the bulb is in bloom, will not hurt the bulb. It looks best planted in masses and in rock gardens.
How to Grow Saffron Crocus
They grow in zone 5-8 and 8 is just where I am in Glen Ellen in northern California. Be sure to loosen and prepare the soil with compost, peat moss, and be sure they have good drainage. Plant them three to four inches down and about two inches apart. They are an excellent naturalizer and bloom just two to four inches high – like an interesting ground cover!
The color is beautiful with dark purple veining on the lilac petals. The yellow center with the red strands is very eye catching. The crocus bulbs are planted with the pointy ends facing up and then watered well.
These will bloom in the autumn and the strands for saffron will be ready to add to savory dishes.
They are wonderful planted in masses and in rock gardens as they are only two to four inches tall. A wonderful type of grown cover and they naturalize and attract butterflies.
If it is possible to buy the bulbs/seeds to grow Crocus Sativus I would love to know more about them and if they will grow here in Northern California.
You can order them on this website and they will grow in Northern CA. I have good instructions that come with them.
Marde
I sell the Saffron Crocus corms (Crocus Sativus) on my website. They come with directions but basically you plant them in the fall, ideally, leave them undisturbed for 3 years and just pick the flowers to remove the stigmas which is the saffron spice. They will increase in the number of corms, and then you can dig and divide them. If they are planted in the spring, they will not bloom but will start dividing that first year.
Would like to grow it in our land in Karnataka state India. Is this feasible for cultivation.