Saffron is a pricy spice harvested from a fall-flowering crocus. Learn how to grow it to harvest your own saffron.

Crocuses may also be grown from seed, but they can take three years to produce blooms. When planting crocus corms, make sure the soil is sandy and drains well.

Plant autumn crocus about 8 inches apart, with the tops of the large corms at least 3 inches below the soil surface in fertile, well-drained soil, in full sun or light shade.

Saffron crocus are propagated from corms. Corms are underground storage organs structured of swollen bases of stems enclosed by dry, scalelike leaves. The covering is called a tunic.

Some so-called bulbs, such as crocus and gladiolus, are in fact corms, which are just thickened hunks of stem. If you want crocuses to multiply prolifically, make cuttings, as you would with any stem.

Crocuses reproduce in two ways: through seeds, and asexually through corms, a tuber-like formation at the bottom of the plant that helps it store nutrients and will propagate clusters of ...

The flowers that produce the coveted spice saffron are edible - but you must know the basics of plant identification to discern them from other species first.

When to plant crocuses According to gardener and writer Sarah Raven, crocus corms intended for an early spring display should be planted in autumn, between September and November.

But growing it in small quantities is loads easier - all you need is some saffron crocus corms and a place to plant them. Amy explained: "They only take a couple of months to grow into beautiful ...

Crocus If you've ever seen a flower peeking through the snow in the winter, it's likely it was a crocus. Plant crocus corms in clusters 6 to 8 weeks before the first hard frost of the season in ...

Crocuses are most-commonly planted in garden beds but they’re also sown along walkways and driveways, under deciduous trees (since they bloom before the leaves appear), or in front of shrubs.

You've got until October to plant the crocus corms, which you can get from most garden centres. Once they're ready to harvest just pluck the stigma using tweezers and store in an air tight container.