It seems to be a common question. I don't have an answer. The species isn't easy to grow well.

I have been thinking of growing these myself. Are you sure that they have sufficient calcium by way of bonemeal or finely the ground eggshells? Flowers need calcium to bloom.

I'll have to try adding ground eggshells! Also I've got this horrid applemint growing up and shading them, do you think that is part of the problem?

Shade could be a big factor. If they're sun lovers, removing the mint would help. I know that's easier said that done!

LOL! Yeah, you said it...I posted in a forum on how to get rid of applemint....it's like an invasion from outer space! Or Close encounters of the minty kind.

I grow them around a dogwood and along a retaining wall. Here in CT, they don't always bloom and I get about a dozen stems of saffron which is enough for me.

Be sure to not cut back the leaves, feed them 5-10-5 and bone meal in small amounts in the spring when the leaves show

For a real hoot, look up images for saffron. You should be able to find that Iranian woman with a turkey platter totally mounding with saffron....

Second to cinnamon, it is the most expensive spice. You gotta give credit for all those who harvest it, three strands per flower.

Thank you for the advice emerogork! I've ordered some new saffron bulbs already so I'm going to keep them where they will get some sun for a change and get mowed to keep them exposed to the sun. :) I'll have to look for that picture, it sounds spectacular. I hope that the farmers who have to pick those threads actually make some decent money from the whole thing.

I am going to Spain where saffron is a big crop there. Does anyone know I can get good quality bulb to grow in US? Any issue with importing?

I order seed from the UK and there has not been any question. The packages state on the outside that they have been cleared for international shipping. I suspect the only real problem is in shipping potted plants and the use of soil. This may be why so many plants are shipped bare rooted. Of course the expense of shipping soil may be a large factor too.

Maybe you should contact the post office.

Update...back from Spain for a while. I got my saffron from the usual spice shop in the tourist area. To my utter surprise, when we went to see some windmills which were off the beaten path, I found some wild saffron crocus growing at the foot of the windmill. The ground was soil-less and full of small pebbles. That led me to believe that they do well in arid and hot condition.

That was always my conception of proper habitat for saffron.

I have saffron coming up in places in which I did not plant it. Not many but randomly. I can only imagine that the bulbs were washed around a bit and then they rooted. OTOH, I have had sections deliberately planted yet only bloomed once.

As have I, I haven't actually had a GOOD place for saffron ever, my soil too rich, too wet, etc.

That's a colchicum btw, not saffron crocus. If you eat it's pollen, you probably will either mutate or die (lol).

As have I, I haven't actually had a GOOD place for saffron ever, my soil too rich, too wet, etc.

You got that right. (:

I have tried growing saffron bulbs twice with no success in Massachusetts. Should I bother with another attempt?

I am in central Connecticut and have had about a 25% success rate in that I tried planting them twice in separate years. Only a few came back where I figured was an excellent location because there were other crocus bulbs surviving there. Maybe 6 out of 45 came back. Then I circled the base of a 60 year old Dogwood tree which had Bishops weed as competition. Out of 25 more bulbs, I figured 15 came back and I can harvest a pinch of saffron each year. (Yes, only a pinch of it.)

You mention that you had no success. Do you have other crocus bulbs planted in the area? Are they successful? I presume that you planted them in the fall.

Did something eat them? One year I set out 30 crocus bulbs only to find 30 holes the following morning. I guess I neglected to water them in which would have disguised them.