Saffron Bonanza
Jim McKenney (Mon, 04 Nov 2013 18:16:02 PST)

Jim Waddick wrote: "and soon picked the stamens off of about 40 open blooms.   "

Jim, if you really did pick the stamens, you're in for some disappointment. It's the styles you want to pick, not the stamens.  

Jim McKenney
Montgomery County, Maryland, USA, USDA zone 7, where Crocus sativus has not yet bloomed, but the other saffron crocuses C. asumaniae, C. pallasii  and C. thomasii are blooming - still waiting for C. oreocreticus.