CHERRYGAL HEIRLOOM BULBS FOR FALL PLANTING * SAFFRON CROCUS * TEN BULBS. Not only are these fall-blooming lavender crocus (Crocus sativus) beautiful, but their red stigmas are worth their weight in gold! Treasured since ancient times for the fragrance, unique palate and color that saffron lends to rice and other dishes, it is also used as a dye. So easy to grow and so easy to dry and store for those purposes but so few do so, choosing instead to pay exorbitant gourmet prices. You will receive TEN (10) 7-8 cm bulbs. Grow 4-5" high and produce pretty lavender blooms of approximately 1.5". Full Sun. Hardy in Zones 5, 6, 7 and 8. Zones 3-9. My supply is limited! Every year I sell out and have customers asking for more so order now, because once they are gone, that's it for this year! Order multiples for shipping savings - but for their protection, please select PRIORITY shipping at checkout. [Please note: I cannot ship live plants, pips or bulbs to California, Alaska or Hawaii. Sorry.] Ships now.

I guarantee these bulbs are fresh stock. Because gardening is always a challenging undertaking I cannot guarantee results.

GROWING SAFFRON: With bulbs, please take care to plant as quickly as possible upon receipt and if squirrels or other 4 legged creatures pose a threat, please cage or cover to protect. One year, some furry critter sheared off the tops of all my saffron crocus. If I had caged them, that would not have happened. If growing in pots, put 6-8 corms per 6" pot 3" deep. Water once and place in warm sunny spot. They should be potted up now as they are shooting now. Once the shoots begin to appear water regularly and don't allow them to dry out. Greenhousing is probably the best and safest way to grow these for purposes of harvesting the stamen. In a natural setting you will risk them to moles, voles and other vermin who find them quite tasty. They are not heavy feeders and once is usually enough. I just put a tablespoon of bone meal in the pot when I plant and add some liquid fertilizer as they start to shoot up. They will bloom in October-November and the stigmas (saffron) need to be harvested as soon as the flowers open. Lay on clean paper or on screens in the sun to dry and store in air tight container out of light as soon as dry. You will want to lift and divide the corms every year to every 3 years, depending on how rapidly they reproduce. If they stop producing it is because you need to divide. Saffron is a great investment in flavor!!