Crocus sativus seed
LATIN NAME: Crocus sativus
COMMON NAME: Saffron Crocus
The saffron crocus is the low, late-flowering, autumn crocus of the warm dry lands, and its dried, red-orange stigmas have been the most precious of the spices for thousands of years. The narrow, grassy leaves rise in the autumn, and the large, lilac-purple, goblet-shaped flowers open in the late autumn, each carrying three long, red-orange stigmas at the centre. The stigmas are hand-picked and dried to give the saffron, the spice that gives the golden colour and the fine, honeyed aroma to the rice and the breads of the world. It is a fine, generous, easy bulb for the warm, dry, sunny border.
Scientific Research & Plant Biotechnology
The saffron crocus has a rich and well-documented place in the plant science, and the red-orange stigmas have been studied for a very long time as the source of the most precious of the spices. The colouring and the aromatic compounds in the stigmas, which give the golden colour and the honeyed aroma, have been looked into, and the plant keeps showing up in the work on the spice crops and the autumn-flowering bulbs. The labour of the hand-picking and the drying of the stigmas is well recorded, and the plant is a regular subject of the studies of the traditional and the high-value spice crops.
Ecological & Economic Value & Wide Applications
The saffron crocus is grown for the precious stigmas, and the dried saffron gives the golden colour and the fine, honeyed aroma to the rice dishes, the breads, the sauces and the sweets of the world. It is the most precious of the spices by weight, and the flowers are hand-picked and the stigmas dried with great care. In the garden the large, lilac-purple flowers are a fine, welcome sight in the late autumn, and the plant has been written about in the agricultural and the food papers for its long history and its high value. It is a fine, easy bulb for the warm, dry, sunny border.
The saffron crocus has been grown for the precious red-orange stigmas for thousands of years, and a single flower gives only three of them, which is why the spice is so precious by weight. The flowers open in the late autumn, and the stigmas are hand-picked and dried with great care to give the golden colour and the fine, honeyed aroma of the true saffron. The dried saffron is used in the rice dishes, the breads, the sauces and the sweets of the world, and a very little goes a long way. In the garden the large, lilac-purple, goblet-shaped flowers are a fine, welcome sight in the late autumn.
To grow the saffron crocus from seed, scatter the small, round seeds over the surface of pots of moist, free-draining soil and cover them very lightly, then keep them in a bright, cool, open spot and water gently. The seedlings come up in the first season and grow on slowly into the small corms, so be patient with them, and give them a few seasons in the pots before setting them out. In the warm, dry, well-drained, sunny spot they prefer, the autumn flowers will come in their own good time.
Crocus sativus Bulbs
Saffron can grow nearly anywhere in the world. The kind of soil is far more important than the climate of the region where one wants to grow
it. It can be grow in big quantities on gardens or just a few flowers in your house.
Saffron corms like the drained soil, heavy clay soil must be avoided. The ideal type of ground is the neutral clay-calcareous or silty soil
with PH 6 to PH 8.
For small areas like a vegetable garden or simple borders, you can easily improve the soil by adding sand, peat or compost.
The saffron bed must be in a sunny place.
Saffron corms can either be planted directly into the ground (gardens, fields etc. ) or in pots or window boxes (inside or outside).
Put the corms into the ground at a 10 to 15 cm (4-5 in.) depth leaving a 10 cm (4 in.) gap between them.
Watering is not necessary. Corms multiply from one year to the next, from one corm one can get 5 corms after 3 years.