Saffron grows very well in zone 6 USA. The only problem is voles which will destroy (decimate is too mild a word) a patch in a few weeks. The secret involves hardware cloth. It's also very easy to control weeds because the summer dormancy allows mowing or herbiciding depending on your bent. (Please don't rant about RoundUp - pure glyphosate is less toxic than table salt). At my previous house I had about 100 square feet of saffron bed which grew from a couple of pounds of bulbs a Pennsylvania Dutch friend gave me. There was no real secret in Lancaster county - they double or triple each year and need to be thinned every other year. When I moved, I thought I'd give it a try without the hardware cloth and the patch disappeared completely except for one or two that bloomed a couple of years. I still have a few ounces of saffron lying around and giggle every time I see the prices in stores. The PA Dutch also use 'American saffron' which is the flower of safflower, a brilliantly yellow orange flowered annual thistle reminiscent of holly. -----Original Message----- From: pbs [mailto:pbs-bounces@lists.ibiblio.org] On Behalf Of David Pilling Sent: Thursday, November 06, 2014 7:48 AM To: Pacific Bulb Society Subject: [pbs] Saffron Walden Hi, Today many of the newspapers in the UK report the return of commercial saffron growing in England, after a break of 200 years, to the town that takes its name from the flower "Saffron Walden". Here's a link: http://telegraph.co.uk/earth/agriculture/… n-back-into-Saffron-Walden.html -- David Pilling http://www.davidpilling.com/