IS IT POSSIBLE TO GROW SAFFRON IN A COOL CANADIAN CLIMATE? LINDA ASKS A SAFFRON QUESTION
“I have a query for you. I would like to grow Saffron for its health benefits. Can you give me a successful starting plan?
I have a grow light that I purchased plus I have a heating pad. I eagerly await your reply.” Linda, Balcony Gardener in Victoria
Saffron, unlike most crocus you grow, bloom in the fall in our cool Canadian climate, so buy and plant it in late August or early September to get blooms right away, before leaves sprout. DONNA BALZER PHOTO
Linda, a participant in my online vegetable growing class with Steven Biggs (See Food, Garden, Life online learning platform for complete list of classes and programs this season) sent the above inquiry to us about growing saffron and we were happy to help. Here is my reply to Linda, modified for and expanded for this blog post.
BE CAREFUL WHERE AND WHEN YOU ORDER SAFFRON IN OUR COOL CANADIAN CLIMATE
Saffron, like other types of crocus, is grown from a bulb but it is a FALL BLOOMING bulb. I got together with one of our other participants (Brian from QB) and ordered hundreds of bulbs from a Canadian supplier two years ago (SEE SUPPLIER HERE). It was the second time I ordered saffron but the first time I was successful.
The first time I ordered saffron, I received the tiniest bulbs from an Etsy supplier, somewhere in China. The bulbs arrived in February and they never did grow. What a disappointment! Unlike widgets, living plants have to be ordered when they are alive. Better yet, order them when you can plant them outside, the sooner the better this fall.
Photo of a saffron corm (Bulb) from Pursafran in Quebec, a supplier of Saffron in our cold Canadian climate.
This photo shows a single corm. This is how a bulb will look before it is planted. Shortly after planting in late summer or early fall, bulbs will bloom and then they keep blooming while they send up leaves. The leaves stay on the plants until they wither in the summer heat. SEE PURSAFRAN CANADIAN WEBSITE HERE
GROW YOUR SAFFRON IN A POT OR IN THE GARDEN IN CANADA
Anyway, because of Linda’s location in zone 7 Victoria, BC, Canada, the possibilities are endless. I suggested she order her saffron immediately so she receives it before it blooms. It blooms before it produces leaves and then you leave it in place, in the ground, while the leaves form and mature and the corm multiplies!
My daughter planted the saffron I gave her in a cool Canadian climate in Calgary Alberta but she mulched them right away with plenty of leaves to protect them.
I planted my bulbs in moveable pots since I knew I was moving homes last fall. These worked well but not as well as Brian’s because he is growing in a warmer climate, still in Canada, but on Savary Island, and he didn’t move his bulbs after his first harvest. Because of that he had a good crop of Saffron the first year and an amazing crop in year 2 in his Canadian climate. This year will probably be outstanding.
These saffron are blooming in a cool Canadian climate in a pot in my greenhouse against the greenhouse foundation wall last fall. They were moved outside in spring once the protective and nurturing buckwheat cover crop germinated and started to grow in my cool Canadian climate. The seedlings in this shot are arugula, because I thought it would grow and provide a green crop over winter in my unheated greenhouse. That didn’t work out as planned so instead I planted the buckwheat cover crop in spring. DONNA BALZER PHOTO
BULBS ARE MOVED
I moved my bulbs from a warm zone 7 to a cool Canadian zone 3 climate last falI (in 2023) and I got a medium harvest even with the move. I kept the container with saffron bulbs in my cold greenhouse over winter so it’s third harvest will be this fall. Considering they came to the prairies in a pot on a moving truck I felt pretty good I even remembered which pot they were in and I celebrated every bloom I got last October. This spring I over-seeded buckwheat into the container with the saffron bulbs after the leaves died over winter so there would be some improvements to the soil without bulb disruption and without having an empty pot all summer during the saffron dormant season.
I pulled apart the first bloom I got from my saffron in 2022. This clearly shows the red male part of the plant (stigma) which is also called a stamen. This is the part we dry and use in fantastic healthful drinks or risotto! If you are growing Saffron in a cool Canadian climate remember to harvest blossoms as soon as they bloom.
SUMMARY OF SAFFRON
In summary, saffron grows from bulbs, needs a coolish winter, will stay in one bed or pot for a long time but will be dormant over summer when the soil in its native habitat (Mountains of Afghanistan) dry out and the leaves naturally die back. The bulbs (actually corms) multiply over time so you get more and more blooms and stigma to harvest every fall if bulbs are left undisturbed even in a cool Canadian climate such as Calgary, Alberta.
I don’t see saffron as a houseplant, which was Linda’s first plan, even though she has grow lights. It is better left on her balcony in her mild zone 7 climate, because leaves will stay green all winter, then will go dormant over the heat of the summer. Linda may also be able to find a local source of Saffron at a garden centre since she only has a small balcony and so it might not be worth ordering a large quantity of bulbs from a supplier.
A saffron blooming October 19, 2023 in a zone 3 garden in Calgary, Alberta, Canada was ordered from a Canadian supplier Pur Safran in August 2022. This saffron survived to bloom again in our cool Canadian climate because it was covered with a heavy layer of mulch over winter. CHELSIE ANDERSON PHOTO
For zone 3 gardeners in cool Canadian climates it is worth trying Saffron outside because they may survive to bloom a second year or longer. But yields will be higher in cool climates if some protection (like a greenhouse or plenty of mulch) are provided to keep snow and bitter cold off plants.
Here is the link to a Canadian supplier I have used: https://www.pursafran.com/en/
