A SPICY AUTUMN-BLOOMING BEAUTY

HORTICULTURE TOPIC: A Spicy Autumn-Blooming Beauty

Horticulture Chair Nancy Percivall shared a spicy autumn-blooming beauty with us – the Saffron crocus.

This unique crocus blooms in the fall. Its fragrant lavender blooms add beauty to the fall landscape. But what makes them really pop is the brilliant red stamens used to make the world's most expensive spice – saffron. This plant likes to live in zones 3-8, in well-draining soil, with full sun. Plant the corms “pointy side” up, two inches apart and four inches deep, allowing six weeks to bloom. It takes several years for the plants to produce a good crop of saffron, which is harvested from the red stamins and dried out for a few weeks before use. Once dried and stored, the saffron is good for approximately two years before losing potency. Saffron crocus corms are different than bulbs, and fakes can be identified by soaking them in water or dissecting them to determine the density of the corm (which should not look like a typical bulb).