saffron crocus question

9 years ago

Not sure if this is appropriate place to post, but here goes. A few years ago I planted some saffron under my plum tree. It gets good light for most of the day. It sends up leaves in the spring, and it send up leaves in the fall, but though I vigilantly check for them, I've got no flowers at all. Last fall I fertilized them and am hoping they will flower this fall, since it's been like 2 years since I planted them. The deer don't like eating their leaves (HA!), but they seem to nip them early on, but they still come up fully. Any ideas? I may cross post this if there is a bulb forum on here.

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emerogork

7 years ago

Plant them this fall for a harvest next fall. Be sure to not cut the greens off until they start to wilt. A but of general fertilizer in the spring can help. Plenty of sunshine.

Here is a pic of the harvest in the middle east.:

I have mine where I can pick them easily. Unfortunately I only have the spring pic of other crocuses but picture the fall with the light purple flowers and being able to sit and pick...

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Comments (19)

dbarron
9 years ago
It seems to be a common question. I don't have an answer. The species isn't easy to grow well.
Gardener at Element 112
8 years ago
I have been thinking of growing these myself. Are you sure that they have sufficient calcium by way of bonemeal or finely the ground eggshells? Flowers need calcium to bloom.
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They're autumn-flowering and they probably won't flower this year - but there's always one...;-(. Pop them into a mix that is guaranteed to dry out. They hate being left in the wet over their dormant time (spring to autumn). The leaves will come up soon and stay over the winter. Keep them moist-enough while they are growing. Around April they will start looking yellow - just like the other autumn crocuses. Let them dry off and keep them away from your summer watering system. Plant in September. Watch anxiously. Wait for those beautiful little cups with the amazing orange-y tassels and go 'Aaah' (I do!) I have this sort of memory that saffron is like tuber rose and tulip - the bulb flowers once then breaks into daughter bulbs and has to grow on to flowering size. Somehow you need to develop a 'succession' system so there are always some coming into flower and some growing up to size each year.
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mersiepoo
Original Author
8 years ago
I'll have to try adding ground eggshells! Also I've got this horrid applemint growing up and shading them, do you think that is part of the problem?
Gardener at Element 112
8 years ago
Shade could be a big factor. If they're sun lovers, removing the mint would help. I know that's easier said that done!
mersiepoo
Original Author
8 years ago
LOL! Yeah, you said it...I posted in a forum on how to get rid of applemint....it's like an invasion from outer space! Or Close encounters of the minty kind.
emerogork
7 years ago
I grow them around a dogwood and along a retaining wall. Here in CT, they don't always bloom and I get about a dozen stems of saffron which is enough for me.

Be sure to not cut back the leaves, feed them 5-10-5 and bone meal in small amounts in the spring when the leaves show

For a real hoot, look up images for saffron. You should be able to find that Iranian woman with a turkey platter totally mounding with saffron....

Second to cinnamon, it is the most expensive spice. You gotta give credit for all those who harvest it, three strands per flower.
mersiepoo
Original Author
7 years ago
Thank you for the advice emerogork! I've ordered some new saffron bulbs already so I'm going to keep them where they will get some sun for a change and get mowed to keep them exposed to the sun. :) I'll have to look for that picture, it sounds spectacular. I hope that the farmers who have to pick those threads actually make some decent money from the whole thing.
shp123
7 years ago
I am going to Spain where saffron is a big crop there. Does anyone know I can get good quality bulb to grow in US? Any issue with importing?
emerogork
7 years ago
I order seed from the UK and there has not been any question. The packages state on the outside that they have been cleared for international shipping. I suspect the only real problem is in shipping potted plants and the use of soil. This may be why so many plants are shipped bare rooted. Of course the expense of shipping soil may be a large factor too.

Maybe you should contact the post office.
shp123
7 years ago
Update...back from Spain for a while. I got my saffron from the usual spice shop in the tourist area. To my utter surprise, when we went to see some windmills which were off the beaten path, I found some wild saffron crocus growing at the foot of the windmill. The ground was soil-less and full of small pebbles. That led me to believe that they do well in arid and hot condition.
dbarron
7 years ago
That was always my conception of proper habitat for saffron.
emerogork
7 years ago
I have saffron coming up in places in which I did not plant it. Not many but randomly. I can only imagine that the bulbs were washed around a bit and then they rooted. OTOH, I have had sections deliberately planted yet only bloomed once.
dbarron
7 years ago
As have I, I haven't actually had a GOOD place for saffron ever, my soil too rich, too wet, etc.
shp123
7 years ago
This is what I saw in Spain. I think best place to plant them, maybe in our driveway, lol!
dbarron
7 years ago
last modified: 7 years ago
That's a colchicum btw, not saffron crocus. If you eat it's pollen, you probably will either mutate or die (lol).
emerogork
7 years ago
As have I, I haven't actually had a GOOD place for saffron ever, my soil too rich, too wet, etc.

You got that right. (:
chervil2
7 years ago
I have tried growing saffron bulbs twice with no success in Massachusetts. Should I bother with another attempt?
emerogork
7 years ago
I am in central Connecticut and have had about a 25% success rate in that I tried planting them twice in separate years. Only a few came back where I figured was an excellent location because there were other crocus bulbs surviving there. Maybe 6 out of 45 came back. Then I circled the base of a 60 year old Dogwood tree which had Bishops weed as competition. Out of 25 more bulbs, I figured 15 came back and I can harvest a pinch of saffron each year. (Yes, only a pinch of it.)

You mention that you had no success. Do you have other crocus bulbs planted in the area? Are they successful? I presume that you planted them in the fall.

Did something eat them? One year I set out 30 crocus bulbs only to find 30 holes the following morning. I guess I neglected to water them in which would have disguised them.