In amongst the bulbs I planted a couple of weeks ago were one or two Crocus sativus. They were already starting to flower, so I didn't have high hopes for their survival.
This is the saffron producing Autumn flowering crocus, which produces pretty, if short-lived, lilac striped flowers punctuated with crimson stigma.
As always, I stuffed them into a pot & let them be. It has still been so exciting to see them bloom. We carefully extracted the three saffron stigma from each flower, and put them to one side to dry out. I had in mind a recipe for St Lucia cakes (Saffron Buns) that a Swedish friend made for me many years ago, and just had enough saffron without having to cheat with turmeric.
The recipe looks more complicated than I remembered, but I set an afternoon aside to get baking with the boys.
The result? We'll have to wait to next year. 'Someone' tidied the saffron strands into the bin...
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