Growing Saffron

Growing saffron in the front of your chrysanthemum beds will help brighten up your fall garden.

If you pluck the saffron thread to use in cooking, you'll be getting double the pleasure.

Each flower however only produces about three threads.

It will take about six plants to grow the quantity of saffron called for in most recipes.

The flowers are a pretty addition to the fall garden, even if you only season a single recipe.

Saffron is easy to grow and easy to maintain.

Description

Saffron is a perennial herb that grows about 1 foot tall in zones 6 to 9.

Flowers: The flowers are a lovely lavender, white, or purplish and bloom in the fall. They look just like the crocuses that bloom in the spring garden. The flowers have a vivid orange-yellow stigmas.

Leaves: Narrow grasslike leaves, 6 to 12 inches long, appear in spring and die back once hot weather sets in.

Flavor and fragrance: Saffron is highly flavorful and aromatic with a spicy, pungent, and slightly bitter taste.

How To Grow

When to plant: Plant saffron corms in spring or fall, placing them root side down, 3 to 4 inches below the soil surface. Lift and divide the corms every three to four years in early summer after the foliage dies back; replant immediately.

Where to plant: Saffron prefers partial shade but tolerates full sun.

Soil and fertility: Plant in well-drained soil of average fertility.

Plant spacing: Leave about 6 inches between corms. Plants will produce baby corms that eventually fill in the group.

Pests: Pest-free

Diseases: Susceptable to root rot in soggy soil conditions.

Harvesting

When to harvest: Harvest the orange-yellow stigmas in fall when the flowers are fully open. Gather them in the morning just after the flowers open and before pollinating insects begin visiting the blossoms.

How to harvest: With tweezers, pull out the three stigmas in each flower.

Drying: Dry the stigmas on the fruit leather insert of your dehydrator, or place them between sheets of brown paper in an airy location.

Uses

Cooking: Saffron threads (stigmas) are used in many rice dishes as well as with vegetables, meats, seafood, poultry, and in baked goods. They add a sharp, almost medicinal flavor, and a beautiful orange-yellow color.

Growing saffron for the threads may not be ideal, especially if you have limited space, but the beautiful flowers are well worth growing a few plants.