Jan–MarApr–JunJul–SepOct–Dec
Planting
Days to maturity
Seasonal yields
Sow indoors · Direct sow · Transplant outdoors
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Plant · P-655
Saffron
Crocus sativus
Saffron is a small autumn-flowering corm grown for the three red threads inside each flower, hand-picked at first light and dried into the world's most expensive spice by weight, since it takes roughly 75,000 blossoms to fill a pound. Those threads flavour and colour paella, bouillabaisse and risotto, and give a traditional yellow dye. The plant needs a hot, dry summer rest to flower well and rots where the ground stays wet, so it does best in a raised bed or a gravelly, well-drained spot rather than an irrigated border. It spreads only if divided by hand, since the corms are sterile and set no seed, so a planting never runs and never needs containing.
Record at a glance
Growing profile
- Sun
- Full Sun · Partial Sun
- USDA zone
- USDA 6–8
- Soil
- Sand · Silt · Loam
- Moisture
- Dry · Well-Drained · Moderate
Vertical layer
Rhizosphere- Soil pH
- 6–8
- Plant type
- Perennial
- Mature height
- 6–10 in
- Mature spread
- 2–4 in
- Plant spacing
- 3–4 in
- Root type
- Bulb
- Spread pattern
- None
Keep exploring
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Burdock Root
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Celeriac
Apium graveolens var rapaceum
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Chinese Artichoke
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Daikon
Raphanus sativus var longipinnatus
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The deeper layer
Plan what comes next.
- Primary
- Locked ecological function
- Secondary
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- Byproduct
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Behind the record
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