Crocus Sativas, or Saffron Crocus, is the source of what we know of as Saffron, the world's most expensive spice by weight. So why not grow it yourself in your own garden? Each plant has beautiful lilac-purple flowers, with a vanilla-spice fragrance, that will appear in the fall for a 1–2-week period when the saffron spice, the three stigmas, can be collected. Harvesting the saffron is easy, simply pick the red stigmas on each flower once the flowers are fully open mid-morning on a sunny day. The bulbs can be left in the ground for up to six consecutive years, with the best saffron harvest typically reached in the second year after planting. You can continue enjoying saffron harvests in the fall for many more years.Did you know that Saffron Crocus is unknown in the wild and is a product of 3500 years of selective breeding by several different civilizations?