The price of gold was controlled when I was young, so saffron and gold may have had similar prices at that time. I used to have a few flowers every year and I would collect the stigmas and put them in a little dish in a corner of a shelf, waiting till I had enough collected to use. Then my plants stopped flowering, and I never did get around to using my collection. I wonder how long they remained flavourful. -- Diane Whitehead Victoria, British Columbia, Canada maritime zone 8 cool mediterranean climate (dry summer, rainy winter - 68 cm annually) sandy soil