Crocuses are unusual and very attractive flowers. Saffron is their other name. Having grown them in a pot, you can give these flowers for the new year or any other holiday.
In addition, everyone knows an expensive and rare spice - saffron. Photos (flowers on them are processed manually - stamens are extracted from them and used not only as a spice, but also as a medicine and dye) demonstrate the complexity of its production. Let's look at the features of growing crocuses. And also give examples of their use and mention the glorious history that these flowers have.
Saffron or Crocus
The corms are flowering most often in early spring. There are about 80 species of crocuses. They grow in Europe, in the Crimea, Iran, Turkey. In nature, some of them have become rare. Environmentalists have long proposed to put these flowers in the Red Book. Saffron is an Arabic name. This word means yellow. So they began to call crocus due to the fact that the stigmas of the plant, which are collected for the manufacture of spices and dyes, have just such a shade. The flower and the second, ancient Greek name, formed from "kroke", which means "fiber" or "thread", owe the same detail to its structure. After all, dried stigmas resemble fibers. It is for their sake that these flowers have long been grown and harvested in the wild.
Saffron in history and culture
This plant is mentioned in ancient papyrus of Egypt. Well-known physicians of that time and philosophers spoke about its healing properties. Already then saffron (a flower whose photo allows us to see its delicate beauty) was highly appreciated. It was used to produce high-quality natural dye, which was necessary in order to decorate the clothes of high-ranking government officials. And also he served for the manufacture of incense, medicine, gourmet seasonings. Saffron is mentioned even in the written sources of the Sumerian civilization and in the Old Testament. He was often presented as a gift to kings and emperors. There is a beautiful legend about how crocuses appeared on earth. Allegedly, the god Hermes accidentally, in the heat of a competitive game, killed his close friend Krok. Mourning him, he turned drops of his blood into amazing flowers.
Valuable spice and garden decoration
Crocuses bloom for a short time, only one week. Collect them for seasoning should be in the morning at dawn, until the sun rose and warmed up the air. The stamens extracted from each flower are sorted and processed manually. This is incredibly hard and painstaking work. Therefore, saffron has long learned to fake by mixing parts of another plant, weighting. Even if you are not a connoisseur of exclusive spices, crocus may be of interest to you as one of the most beautiful corms. At present, decorative gardening knows a huge variety of varieties with beautiful flowers that will decorate your site, successfully fitting into rock gardens and flower beds. In order to admire one of the brightest primroses in spring, you should plant the bulbs in the soil in September.