Crocus: planting, growing, care and flowering

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Goblet flowers blending blue and violet open in the middle of the lawn or at the foot of trees, at winter’s end or in autumn depending on the species; one of them, Crocus sativus, gives saffron. Plant in clusters of twenty to thirty, and hold off mowing until the leaves wilt, and the patch spreads.

Planting and care are a set of small actions that, if properly performed, will boost blooming.

Planting crocus

There are two planting periods, each matching the one or the other variety. The species that produces saffron is called Crocus sativus.

• It is recommended to plant in fall those bulbs of species that bloom at the end of winter
• and to plant at the beginning of summer the bulbs of species blooming in fall

Follow a planting depth of 2 inches (5 cm) and plant in clusters of at least 20 to 30 bulbs.

• Take a look at our information on how to plant bulbs.

Pruning and caring for crocus

At the end of the blooming, wait for leaves to turn yellow before cutting them off, because this is exactly when the flower is storing nutrients in its bulb for the next blooming cycle.

If you’ve planted crocus in the middle of your lawn, wait for the crocus leaves to have wilted before mowing for the first time in spring.

Usually, this will match with the end of the first dandelion blooming. You’ll have a lawn dotted with yellow dandelions, but won’t have to suffer through all the weeding!

Different types of crocus

Crocus sativus, as mentioned above, is the variety from which saffron is collected. This is arduous work!

Other crocus species include Crocus chrysanthus, Crocus sieberi, Crocus tommasinianus, Crocus olivieri…

Many of these grow in the wild, but garden centers are beginning to introduce them as botanical crocus varieties.

• The large-flowered Dutch crocus, forms of Crocus vernus, carry the biggest goblets of the genus and open a little later than the botanical species, so mixing both types stretches the display.
• Crocus tommasinianus, often called the tommie, spreads both by seed and by cormlet offsets, so it readily naturalizes into self-renewing drifts in grass or under deciduous trees.
• For autumn flowers without the fuss of saffron, Crocus speciosus and Crocus banaticus bloom on bare ground before their leaves appear, and both settle in more readily than Crocus sativus.
• Do not confuse saffron crocus (Crocus sativus) with autumn crocus (Colchicum autumnale), which belongs to the family Colchicaceae, bears six stamens rather than three, and is poisonous in all its parts, so it must never be used as saffron.

Crocus varieties commonly sold

Beyond the botanical species, garden centres and bulb catalogues offer a small group of crocus that turn up year after year. They differ mainly in when they flower, in colour and in size.

Harvesting saffron

Crocus sativus produces three long pistils (the female pollen-receiving organ) per flower.

• Early morning, when flowers have just opened, harvesters scour the flower beds to pick each fresh flower by hand, whole.
• Within less than an hour, batches are sent indoors, where they’re spilled on a table.
• Each flower is then opened to reveal the pistils which are carefully pulled out with tweezers.
• Pistils are carefully dried and packed.

The faster the process, the higher the quality, but there are also other factors: variety, soil, water, sun…

A million flowers will yield only 5 kg of flowers, so you can imagine how much work this is! Luckily, you only need a few to prepare a savory meal…

All there is to know about crocus

This bulb plant is remarkable for the beauty of its flowers that are most often a blend of blue and violet, that often appear in the middle of the lawn or at the foot of trees.

They are perfect to highlight your garden at the end of winter or in fall, when clusters large and dense enough start forming incredible flowered spots all around.

As a spice, it’s a valuable crop, but since flowers only last a day, it’s a challenge to time your availability for the harvest…

Also great for growing in pots, where it takes over after snowbell and muscari start fading.

More spring bulb flowers

• Snowdrop, tulip, narcissus, hyacinth, grape hyacinth

• Narcissus and daffodil bulbs contain toxic alkaloids that squirrels, voles and deer leave alone, so they are the safer choice where crocus corms are regularly dug up and eaten.
• Snowdrops establish far more reliably when lifted and replanted in the green, still in leaf just after flowering, than when bought as dry bulbs that easily desiccate.
• Combining early crocus with later tulips and narcissus extends the display for weeks, though each bulb’s foliage must be left to yellow before removal — which, where bulbs are naturalised in turf rather than in a bed, means delaying mowing.