Saffron
Rodger Whitlock (Mon, 31 Oct 2005 08:40:19 PST)

On 30 Oct 05 at 20:40, Jim McKenney wrote:

I've read that the Pennsylvania Dutch actually grow C.
nudiflorus, not C. sativus. I may be misstating the correct
species it is, but my mind has a connection [Pennsylvania
Dutch]:::[stoloniferous crocus].

And further: that the traditional site is by the back stoop
where the farmer can piss on the patch of bulbs, thereby
encouraging them; and that established clumps go for fancy
prices at farm auctions.

Sorry, like so many other glittering items in my packrat's nest
of a mind, I haven't a clue where I read this. Perhaps Brian
Mathews or Bowles books? Or maybe Patrick Synge's Collins Guide
to Bulbs?

I hope the farmers are restrained in their ecologically sound
recycling of human waste: I once killed a beautiful specimen
of Hosta 'Royal Standard' by thus fertilizing it too
enthusiastically and that spot seems to have been permanently
toxified.

--
Rodger Whitlock
Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
Maritime Zone 8, a cool Mediterranean climate

on beautiful Vancouver Island