Crocus sativus
saffron crocus bulbs
- Position: full sun
- Soil: gritty, poor to moderately fertile, well-drained soil
- Rate of growth: average
- Flowering period: October and November
- Other features: slender, strap-shaped, mid-green leaves
- Hardiness: fully hardy
- Bulb size: 7/8
Grow your own saffron (the most expensive spice in the world), with this beautiful crocus. It produces large, rich lilac flowers with distinctive purple veins in October and November. An autumn-flowering crocus, it is named after its three long, deep-red stigmas, which are cultivated commercially for colouring and flavouring food. To provide the conditions in which it needs to thrive plant the bulbs in August or September in gritty, well-drained soil. - Garden care: Plant bulbs in naturalistic drifts 10-15cm (4-6in) deep in August in gritty, well-drained soil. Where bulbs are planted in grass do not cut the lawn until after the leaves have died back.
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Plant spring bulbs
Spring bulbs, such as daffodils and hyacinths, can be planted whenever the soil conditions allow. As a rough guide, cover them with about twice as much soil as the bulb is deep: so that a 5cm (2in) deep bulb would need a 15cm...
Read full articlePlanting bulbs
Bulbs are ideal for anyone who rates themselves as 'keen-but-clueless' because they are one of the easiest plants to grow. Provided you plant them at the right time of year at more or less the right depth, they will reward...
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