I thought I would add a bit to my last post. Above you can see the saffron crocus in bloom. Those 3 crazy stamens you see are what is harvested and dried to make saffron. They kind of scream for attention, don’t they?

Backing up to the last post….after eating the paella I started thinking about the spice saffron. I knew it was the dried stamens of a particular crocus, but that was about it. And what really got me thinking was…with crocus bulbs bursting up in practically everyone’s backyards, couldn’t a saffron crocus be grown here as well?

I poked around the internet as I am wont to do, and found out a few things. The first was that the saffron crocus was actually called crocus sativus. From there the information was pretty easy. I found a bunch of nurseries that stocked the bulbs. You can get them via Amazon for goodness sake.

They grow in zones 6-8 in mostly to partly sunny spots. I couldn’t quite figure out why nobody grows these guys, especially given the exorbitant price. It is the most expensive spice in the world according to many different sources. What got me really thinking about trying it out was this article on it. The author talks about how common the saffron crocus was in Pennsylvania Dutch families, and how they might laugh at how much people spend on the spice when they had them growing next to their wood pile. Somehow that clinched it for me. Here’s another article about the Pennsylvania Dutch connection along with a recipe for chicken soup with saffron.

I planted them in my dwarf apple tree pots and put down bird netting over the soil to keep the squirrels away. The bulbs seemed quite dry and light (weight-wise), so I’m hoping that they are still viable. If nothing happens with them in the next couple of months, I may buy another batch. I read that you plant them in late summer, so I still have plenty of time if these are duds. I’m not really sure why they specify planting them in late summer as you leave them in the ground all year. I didn’t want to wait any longer with mine as they seemed quite dry already.

I am very excited to try my hand at growing it. I’ll post pictures when they start sprouting.

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