I ran this by Jon and he's ok with it.  I'm placing a bulk order for Saffron Crocus corms.  These are fall blooming crocuses.  The 3 red pistils are dried to produce Saffron.  They grow from Zones 5 - 8/9.  The key is to not let them sit in water over the summer.  I'll get them in in late September and ship them to you as soon as I do.  You'd want to plant and water them right away. 

They are typically planted 3-12" apart and 6" down.  The closer together they are the more frequently you'll have to dig them up and separate them.  :)   Typically they're dug up every 4-6 years as productivity decreases when they're too crowded.

The corms are 9+ cm in circumference - very large.  They cost 50 cents each plus shipping.  If you want some PM me how many and I'll respond with shipping costs and my pp address.  I have to get the order in in about a week so prices don't go up on me.

Any questions please ask here.

Ha ha. I would LOVE to try this! But I think they would go the way of my Easter Lillies and Hybiscus and a lot of other bulbs. Feeding the pine vole population. 

It's possible.  Here the first year I planted I got 1 or 2 dug up and partially eaten, then the rest were left alone.  The corms are poisonous and from what I can see they must give the rodents a stomach ache or taste bad.

I enjoy Saffron in different recipes, I'm interested. 

Giving people a little more time to see this.  I will delete the thread on Tuesday.

True, and the flowers smell wonderful.

It takes 150 +/- flowers to produce a gram of saffron - seems like a lot of work and space will be required for anything more than just 'pretty flowers'.


Andrew

It's initially a lot of work planting the corms but then for 4-6 years you don't have to do anything but pick the flowers and separate out the saffron.  Each thread weighs about .00178 - 0.00213 g or there are 469 - 563 threads per gram.  For freshly dried saffron you only need 1-2 threads per person per meal.  So if you eat a saffron dish twice per week (which would be 10x the norm) you only need about 100 threads (at most) or about 0.2 grams per person per year.  That's only 30 flowers per person per year.  Not all of your corms will flower the first year but by year 3 it's not uncommon to get 16 flowers where 1 corm was planted.  Not all will produce that much but some will. 

So getting enough saffron to enjoy and use as gifts is easily done.  And the flowers are not only pretty but they smell great.

As far as area needed for planting, as I mentioned above they can be spaced 4-12" apart.  The closer the spacing the more frequently they'll have to be lifted.  I like to space a single row 12" apart along walkways and edges.  I also put them 12" apart in my Spring bulb beds since they're active at opposite times.  At 12" apart along a walkway you'll need 30' per person/year for the large saffron consumption mentioned above.  I put them in with the grass since, again, saffron is growing when the grass isn't.  They can also be placed around deciduous trees because Saffron needs sun in the Fall and Winter when the trees aren't shading them.  If you put them in a bed at 12" apart then you need 30 sq' per person/year.

How beautiful is that flower.  I didn't read all the posts but I heard that saffron has very fragrant flowers, which I imagine it would.  I would like to buy some saffron from you...can it be grown in pots?  I just don't have ground for planting.

Hi, Meg!  You can grow it in pots but you can't let it freeze.  It blooms in the fall and then stays green most or all of the winter.  It can easily handle 28 degrees but if the ground freezes before it's formed a corm it will die.  Unless you put it in a large pot it won't flower every year.  You won't get many flowers with a 1 gal pot but 4 - 5 in a 10 gal or 1 in a 3 gal pot should work fine if you fertilize well.

PM me if you want some.

Can't wait to get mine this fall.... would be a couple gifts for Christmas next year.... thanx for awesome offer :)

Bob,
I need more info on growing in pots but am interested. Do you have any links for me?
thx
mgg

No one that I know of is growing saffron in pots.  I did it for one season as I was moving but once I was settled all the corms went in the ground.  I know first hand that if the soil in the pot freezes the plants will die.

The only reason I would grow in pots is either if I lacked room or I had rainy summers.

I may be interested, how many would you suggest to start with?

LOL, a loaded question.  :)   I started with 200 plants and eventually planted 1,000 - 1,200, I can't remember exactly.  That makes me the midwest's largest saffron producer  ;)

If you know you like saffron there's never too much.  I've used it in breads, desserts and savory dishes.  When it's no longer $20 for 0.1g I use it a lot more.

If you don't know if you like it, try some first.  You have to be careful to add a little, try it and add more if needed.  Too much is awful.  You have to get threads, not powdered.  The powdered stuff is often less than half saffron.  Try to get saffron threads that have a harvest date on them.  Otherwise you could easily be getting 6 year old stuff.  Saffron will last a long time (years if stored properly) but it does not age like wine  :)

Then you have to decide if you want a lot right away or if you want to start slow and gradually get enough over time.  Also you have to decide how much space you want to devote and how many 7" deep by 1-2" wide holes you want to make.

I started with 200 and I wish I'd gone for the full 1,000 right away.  200 is one of the shipping sweet spots where you get the most corms per shipping dollar.  A lot of people start with 20 but everyone who started with fewer than 50 has told me they were sorry they didn't buy more.  So I would say, based on prior years' feedback that 50 is the minimum to avoid regrets.  Fewer than 20 and you waste money on shipping but you certainly can do that if you want.

I hope this is helpful.  Feel free to ask anything else as I'm sure anything you want to know will help others, too.

I just send a PM about the shipping costs.  I also asked two questions which I'll repeat here:

Do these plants need to be protected from deer and rabbits?  Not to mention squirrels, although I read what you said about the corms being poisonous.  But would squirrels snack on the greens?

If they are shipped to us next Sept, when would we expect to see a few blooms?


John

Actually you sent an email, so don't look for answers in your PMs  :)

I do not protect them.  There are various rodent-like creatures that intently watch as I bury my corms.  They dig up 1 or 2 and leave them.  The leaves have never been bothered by anything.  I have to say, though, that I don't know if deer come close to the houses where I live.  The leaves are also poisonous so hopefully they'll taste bad to deer but I really have no way to be sure.  Maybe I'll try to get permission from a friend who has deer in his yard to plant a few and see what happens.  I won't know until October - November, though.

Blooms are tricky.  If everything is perfect you should get a bloom from most corms even the first year.  And even a few from some of them.  Things are rarely perfect.  The shipping logistics mean that they're not necessarily in the ground and wet when they want to be.  The weather in late Sept and early Oct may or may not be what they want.  Your watering and the temperature play a role as well as the internal clock of the corms.

To maximize the chances of success you should get them in the ground and water right away.  Some people give them an 8 - 36 hr soak in water or a dilute bloom booster or bulb type fertilizer before they plant them.  You should keep the ground moist as long as they're active (flowering or leaf present)  Fertilize a week after you put them in the ground with bulb fertilizer.  After that the best fertilizer schedule is anyone's guess and will vary depending on your soil.

Here's a picture link of my saffron.  Every single bulb actually grew.   I first thought they might have died in transit due to them being in my mailbox for a day or so in 115+ heat.   Then I planted them upside down, but later turned them over.   No activity for a long time.  They look like they are thriving though.  I would definitely recommend growing these because if I can grow them so can you!

https://s24.postimg.org/ktc1tghkl/IMG_8769.jpg

Thanks rcantor for offering them. 

They look healthy but they won't get enough energy in those 1 gal pots to flower next year unless they're rooted into the ground.  Give them some fertilizer.  At this stage it doesn't even matter what the exact ratio is but the more P they get the better your chance of getting flowers is next year.

Good luck with them.

Oh wow Bob my mom and Daisy think you are an angel for giving us this opportunity to get saffron.  They both are amazing cooks and love using saffron.  Years ago I brought home quite a bit from Kenya as I found it inexpensive at the Farmer's Market there and we all got hooked on using is liberally.  Daisy too is excited as she uses it in a lot of her dishes as well.  This is great.  Sending you a PM.  Thanks to another wonderful Figgy Friend.  ;-)  Jodi

wow the prices at dutchgrown went  up this year. I normally buy from them and grow them as annuals in an area away from the other autumn crocuses since it appears that a good amount of the saffron crocuses in circulation are virused and I don't want the others to get infected. The flowers are super pretty and smell quite nice, in the right conditions the fragrance wafts (not to mention just how awesome it is to have your own saffron) so for those of you on the edge of deciding, they're really worth giving a shot.  The one here was from last Autumn.