Ed. note: This article supplements a larger feature on growing a global garden in the Spring 2025 issue of Northern Gardener. Learn more about this issue and how you may read it online here.

Saffron is a fall-flowering crocus prized for its long scarlet stigmas. Saffron (Crocus sativa) is a specific cultivar that is believed to have originated in Greece, some 3,000-4,000 years ago (1700 BCE). It is predominantly cultivated in Iran, a warm, arid climate we don’t readily associate with Minnesota gardens.

What makes saffron expensive is the extraordinary harvest. Three elongated stigmas are hand-harvested from every flower. It takes upwards of 4,500 flowers to yield an ounce, which can cost over $150. Fear not, it’s sold in hundredths of an ounce (1g portions) which make it affordable. If you’ve cooked with saffron, you know the price you pay for a pinch. And also value the color and flavor it brings to Mediterranean and Indian dishes alike. Think paella and tagines, pilafs and risottos.

Saffron is a highly unusual spice to grow in cold climates, but it is feasible. I’ve had success harvesting saffron from first year bulbs. Like other crocus, it’s propagated by corms, a bulb from which the plant is propagated. My current saffron planting is tucked into our cold frame in the hopes of establishing a perennial patch. Saffron is purported to be cold hardy to zone 5, so many readers can give this a try in a warm corner of their gardens.

Saffron Growing Tips

Order saffron bulbs in mid-summer for a fall planting.

Plant saffron bulbs in a pot or cold frame in early September, protected from early fall temperature fluctuations. It will flower in mid- to late October.

Be vigilant checking your plants. They will go from green leaves to an open flower in a matter of hours.

Harvest stigmas promptly and let air dry. You’ll be lucky if you harvest enough to use in a meal, but the curiosity of a fall-flowering crocus was enough for me to grow the middle of a February blizzard and is as sweet, crunchy, and fresh as the day we harvested it in October.

Meg Cowden is a self-taught gardener, writer and photographer, who has grown to love northern gardening. Her book is Plant Grow Harvest Repeat (Timber Press, 2022).