The saffron year
The saffron crocus spends its year in five stages. In the field the seasons set the calendar; indoors, we set it.
June – August
Dormancy
The leaves have died back and the corm rests underground. During these hot, dry months the flower buds for next autumn form inside it.
August – September
Planting
New corms go in 10–15 cm deep. Indoors there is no planting: cooler air and higher humidity start the flowering.
October – November
Flowering and harvest
Flowers are picked in the morning, before they open. The three stigmas are separated by hand and dried the same day. The harvest lasts only two to three weeks.
December – April
Leaves
Thin, grass-like leaves gather energy all winter. As the mother corm is used up, daughter corms grow beside it.
May
Die-back
The leaves yellow and the new corms go dormant. The cycle begins again with them.
One flower, two ways
Saffron has grown in open fields for centuries. Today the same crocus can also flower in a closed room, on shelves stacked one above another.
In soil, in the open field
- Free-draining, chalky or neutral soil; a dry, hot summer
- Corms stay in place for 3–4 years, then are lifted and divided
- The harvest depends on weather, rain and hand labour
Soilless, indoors
- Flowering needs no soil: the corm carries its own food
- Temperature, humidity and light are set for each stage
- Shelves stack one above another, multiplying the growing area
Saffron comes from just one crocus
Crocus sativus is sterile. It sets no seed and multiplies only through its corms, so every saffron crocus in the world is a copy of the same plant. Its wild ancestor is Crocus cartwrightianus, which grows in Greece.
Not every violet autumn flower is saffron. Autumn crocus (Colchicum) is poisonous and looks very much like the saffron crocus.
Explore species and origins