Crocus Sativus: Saffron Crocus

Product Details

Plant Crocus sativus bulbs and grow your own saffron to use in cooking. We rarely think of bulbs as edible, but this showy fall-blooming Crocus is the source of saffron, the quintessential seasoning for paella and other dishes from the Mediterranean and Asia. Each lilac-purple flower produces three red stigmas, which have been used for flavoring and coloring food since Roman times. For more information, read our .

Perhaps because the sun is so low in the sky after the autumn equinox, the blooms of fall Crocus positively glow in the landscape. They appear between September and January (depending on your climate) on stems 3–6″ tall and have the same refined goblet-shaped flowers of their spring cousins.

We ship fall Crocus in September. The bulbs must be planted right away so they may go about the business of rooting. Fall Crocus grow best in a sunny, protected site.

For more information on Crocus care, click Growing Guide.